Tina Howe

{{Infobox writer

| name = Tina Howe

| image = Tina Howe 2015.jpg

| caption = Howe in 2015

| birth_name = Mabel Davis Howe

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|11|21}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|8|28|1937|11|21}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| occupation = Playwright

| period = 1959–2017

| spouse = {{marriage|Norman Levy|1961|2022|end = died}}

| children = 2

| education = Sarah Lawrence College (BA)
Sorbonne University
Columbia University
Chicago State University

| parent = Quincy Howe (father)

| relatives = Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (grandfather)

}}

Mabel Davis "Tina" Howe (November 21, 1937 – August 28, 2023) was an American playwright. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Howe's best-known works include Museum, The Art of Dining, Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances, and Pride's Crossing.

Her plays won numerous awards, including the 1998 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play for Pride's Crossing,[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=380 "'Pride's Crossing' Listing, 1997"] lortel.org, accessed September 6, 2015{{cite web |title=Painting Churches with One Shoe Off |url=http://forum-network.org/lecture/playwriting-painting-churches-one-shoe |work=Wheaton College |accessdate=November 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091106062752/http://forum-network.org/lecture/playwriting-painting-churches-one-shoe |archivedate=November 6, 2009 }} which was also a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Drama "Pulitzer Prize for Drama"] Pulitzer.org, accessed September 5, 2015 Coastal Disturbances was nominated for the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play.[http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=8894 "Tina Howe Broadway (Awards)"] Internet Broadway Database, accessed August 26, 2015

Early life

Mabel Davis Howe was born in Manhattan on November 21, 1937.{{cite news |last1=Genzlinger |first1=Neil |title= Tina Howe, Playwright Who Mixed Heartache And Humor, Dies at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/29/theater/tina-howe-dead.html |access-date=August 30, 2023 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 30, 2023|page = B11|url-access = limited}} Howe came from a literary family. Her grandfather, Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, published over 50 books and won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1925.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/m-dewolfe-howe|title=Barrett Wendell and His Letters, by M. A. Dewolfe Howe (Little) |website=www.pulitzer.org|language=en|access-date=March 12, 2017}} Her father Quincy Howe wrote and broadcast the evening news on CBS Radio from 1942 to 1947, and then on ABC television. He was the author of the three-volume history, A World History of Our Own Times.{{Cite book|title=A world history of our own times. 1, 1|url=https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryofou00howe|url-access=registration|last=Howe|first=Quincy|date=January 1, 1949|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|oclc = 314506365|language=English}} Her uncle, Mark DeWolfe Howe, taught constitutional law at Harvard Law School and was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.'s law clerk and biographer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1967/3/1/mark-de-wolfe-howe-dies-lawyer/|title=Mark De Wolfe Howe Dies; Lawyer, Historian Was 60 {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson|website=www.thecrimson.com|language=en|access-date=March 12, 2017}} Her aunt, Helen Howe, was a successful monologist and novelist.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/02/archives/helen-howe-satiric-monologist-who-became-writer-dies-at-70.html|title=Helen Howe, Satiric Monologist Who Became Writer, Dies at 70|date=February 2, 1975|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 12, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} Howe was called Tina since her childhood, so when she was eighteen, she changed her name from Mabel Howe to Tina Howe.

Howe's family placed an emphasis on its members' reading and writing: "Thanksgivings and family occasions were always about, 'What are you reading, what are you writing, what are you working on, what poetry are you interested in?'"{{cite web|last=Wood|first=Mike|title=Brief biography of Tina Howe|url=http://ingecenter.org/interviews/tinahowe.htm|publisher=The William Inge Center for the Arts|accessdate=November 4, 2011}} When Howe was ill with hepatitis, her father visited her every day in the hospital, reading James Joyce's Ulysses to her during his lunch break.[http://www.thevillager.com/villager_73/translationoftheabsurd.html "Theater. Review and Interview. 'The Bald Soprano'"] The Villager, September 22–28, 2004

Howe graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, in 1959. As an undergraduate, she wrote her first play, Closing Time; her classmate, Jane Alexander, later directed and acted in it.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/03/27/at-the-heights-of-absurdity/5ac90a26-4807-4807-9acb-a27bede4e54b/|title=AT THE HEIGHTS OF ABSURDITY|last1=Richards|first1=David|date=March 27, 1996|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 12, 2017|last2=Richards|first2=David|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}

After graduation, she and Alexander traveled to Europe; Alexander to act and study mathematics at the University of Edinburgh and Howe to study philosophy at Sorbonne University and write. When Howe saw Eugène Ionesco's La Cantatrice Chauve at the Théâtre de la Huchette, "It changed my life", she said. "It was like a bolt of lightning going through my head."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/theater/09howe.html|title=Friend-and-Family Network of Inspirations for Tina Howe's 'Chasing Manet'|last=Cohen|first=Patricia|date=April 8, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 12, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}

Following her return from Europe, Howe did graduate work at Columbia University Teacher's College and Chicago Teachers College.Jackson R. Bryer, Mary C. Hartig (ed.), Tina Howe, Encyclopedia of American Drama, Infobase Learning, 2015, {{ISBN|1438140762}} (no page number) She started teaching high school in Monona Grove, Wisconsin, while her husband (teacher and writer Norman Levy) was doing graduate workWorland, Gayle. [http://host.madison.com/lifestyles/gift-from-the-heart-acclaimed-playwright-returns-to-work-with/article_d53b4059-89c2-520c-9bb2-d0907af416e9.html#ixzz3jtmBy2Mo "Gift From The Heart Acclaimed Playwright Returns To Work With Madison Rep On 'Rembrandt's Gift'"] madison.com, September 10, 2005 and then in Bath, Maine, which is where she said she learned her craft through running the school's drama department, a position she agreed to take if they would produce her plays.{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/howe-tina|title=Howe, Tina – Dictionary definition of Howe, Tina {{!}} Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary|website=www.encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=March 12, 2017}}

Career

=Themes and style=

Literary critic and novelist C. W. E. Bigsby wrote that "art is plainly a central point of reference" for Howe, noting those themes in Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances, and added that "food and consumption" are also important themes in her work. In his book Contemporary American Playwrights, Bigsby wrote that she had a "commitment to experimentation" and quotes Howe as saying said that she is "firmly entrenched in the Absurdist tradition."Bigsby, C. W. E., "Tina Howe", Contemporary American Playwrights, Cambridge University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0521668077}}, pp. 47, 50, 57 Frank Rich, in his New York Times review of Painting Churches commented that the play "is in the dreamiest impressionistic spirit."Rich, Frank. "Theater: Bostonian Life In 'Painting Churches' ", The New York Times, February 9, 1983, p.C16 The Variety reviewer of Painting Churches also noted that the play is a "group portrait painted in a soft, impressionistic style."Stasio, Marilyn. [https://www.variety.com/2012/legit/reviews/painting-churches-1117947196/ "Review. 'Painting Churches' "] Variety, March 6, 2012

The CurtainUp reviewer of Coastal Disturbances wrote of Howe's work: "Like all of Howe's work, the play's charm stems from its quirky characters. In this case joie de vie, despair, love, lust, anger and fear come and go like the waves hitting the shore in foamy bursts or gentle ripples."Sommer, Elyse. [http://www.curtainup.com/coastaldisturbances.html "A CurtainUp Berkshires Review. Coastal Disturbances"] curtainup.com, July 14, 2006 Writing in the Sarah Lawrence Magazine, Celia McGerr Regan described Howe's authorial voice: "Howe developed a voice that has been variously described as farcical and absurd, impressionistic and airy, graceful and perceptive, lyric and literate, vivid and language-driven, whimsical and demented. Odd things happen in the face of the recognizable: Trees grow up inside and through a New York State farmhouse (One Shoe Off)..."Regan, Celia McGerr. [https://www.sarahlawrence.edu/magazine/voice/featured/throwing.html "Throwing Kisses, Throwing Pies"] sarahlawrence.edu, accessed August 26, 2015

Ben Brantley in reviewing Birth and After Birth for The New York Times, observed "The suggestion is of a natural world that thwarts and ultimately devours the ambitions and pretensions of the civilized. This is a theme that Ms. Howe would develop in later works, sometimes artfully (Coastal Disturbances), sometimes clumsily (One Shoe Off), but always in a style that was distinctively her own."Brantley, Ben. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/theater/reviews/04birt.html?pagewanted= "The Art of Bringing Up Baby, With All Its Thrill and Terror"] The New York Times, October 4, 2006

Howe noted about her time in Paris: "The most profound thing that happened to me that year ... was seeing The Bald Soprano by Ionesco. That exploded me all over the place." Ionesco, Beckett and Pirandello continued to be her heroes.Brenson, Michael. [https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/18/theater/art-given-a-role-in-tina-howe-s-play.html?pagewanted= "Art Given A Role In Tina Howe's Play"] The New York Times, February 18, 1983

Howe was a great admirer of Glenn Gould, saying, "I write my plays to Glenn Gould. I cook the kids' spaghetti dinners to Glenn Gould. I pay the bills to Glenn Gould."Hafner, Katie, A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould's Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2010, {{ISBN|1608190455}}, pp. 222–223

=Full-length plays=

Howe's first full-length play to receive a professional production was The Nest, which premiered in summer 1969 at the Act IV Theater in Provincetown, Massachusetts. It was directed by Larry Arrick and the cast included Sally Kirkland and Richard Jordan among others. From Provincetown, the show was transferred Off-Broadway to New York's Mercury Theater, opening on April 9, 1970.{{Cite book|title=The American theatre reader: essays and conversations from American theatre magazine|last=Vogel|first=Paula|date=January 1, 2009|publisher=Theatre Communications Group|isbn=9781559363464|location=New York|oclc = 789409728|language=English}}

Howe later recalled, "My first play, 'The Nest,' was about courtship and how women compete with each other to land a husband. That play closed [off-Broadway] in one night."Lefkowitz, David. [http://www.playbill.com/features/article/tina-howe-taking-pride-and-visiting-museum-101032# Tina Howe Taking Pride and Visiting 'Museum'"] playbill.com, October 14, 1997 The play follows the trials of three young women competing for husbands at a dinner party, and during the course of the play, one of the women takes off her clothes and dives into a huge wedding cake, and is licked clean by one of the male guests. The Nest, Clive Barnes of The New York Times wrote in his review, "must be on any reasonable short list of the worst plays I have ever seen."{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/10/archives/theater-tina-howes-the-nest-opens-at-mercury.html|title=Theater|last=Barnes|first=Clive|date=April 10, 1970|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 12, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}

Her play Museum, with a cast of 55 characters, premiered at the Los Angeles Actors' Theatre on April 29, 1976,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwFZ0_LnwHgC|title=Museum: A Play|last=Howe|first=Tina|date=January 1, 1979|publisher=Samuel French, Inc.|isbn=9780573612893|language=en}} and was then presented Off-Broadway by Joseph Papp at the Public Theater, opening in February 1978, in a production directed by Max Stafford-Clark. A cast of 18 actors played a total of 44 characters. The play takes place at a group art show of three contemporary artists, titled The Broken Silence. The Public Theater production featured Dianne Wiest, Kathryn Grody and Larry Bryggman.Howe, Tina. "Script", Museum: A Play, Samuel French, Inc., 1979, {{ISBN|0573612897}}, pp. 3–7[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2829 "'Museum' Listing, 1978"] lortel.org, accessed September 7, 2015 A CurtainUp reviewer noted that Howe "explained in her author's note for the play's premiere at the Shakespeare Festival, her large cast of characters was created to provide directors and producers with endless staging possibilities."Sommers, Elyse. [http://www.curtainup.com/coastaldisturbances.html "CurtainUp Review. 'Coastal Disturbances', 2006"] curtainup.com, July 14, 2006 In her note in the script (published by Samuel French), Howe wrote: "It is my hope that any group wanting to present Museum use the large cast size as a challenge and not as a restriction. The play was written to serve the versatility of actors."

The play was revived Off-Broadway by the Keen Company in 2002, directed by Carl Forsman. In his Village Voice review, Michael Feingold wrote, "This is the most enchantingly tesserated play ever written … . If Mozart had been a TV producer, this is what a 'Candid Camera' segment on art might have looked like."{{Cite news|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/rampant-exhibitionism-7142285|title=Rampant Exhibitionism|last=Feingold|first=Michael|date=June 11, 2002|work=Village Voice|access-date=March 12, 2017}}

The Art of Dining is set in an exclusive restaurant (and home) moving from the kitchen of the chef/owner, to the dining room, where her husband is the maitre d', to the individual tables of the characters, observing their action and interplay while waiting for and eating their meals. The play was first presented Off-Broadway by Joseph Papp at the Public Theater in December 1979, in a production directed by A. J. Antoon with a cast featuring Kathy Bates, Ron Rifkin and Dianne Wiest, who went on to win the 1980 Clarence Derwent Award and Obie Award.[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2661 The Art of Dining] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115094650/http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2661 |date=November 15, 2011 }} lortel.org, accessed August 26, 2015

Howe herself won an Obie Award in 1983 for distinguished playwriting for her plays The Art of Dining, Museum and Painting Churches.[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/24/theater/obie-awards-presented.html?pagewanted= OBIE Awards Presented"] The New York Times, May 24, 1983 From New York, The Art of Dining moved to a run at the Kennedy Center.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/12/21/curtain-up-light-the-stove-eat/c258556f-1f33-4170-be3a-59ec77f184e3/|title=Curtain Up! Light the Stove! Eat!|last1=Lardner|first1=James|date=December 21, 1979|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 12, 2017|last2=Lardner|first2=James|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}

Howe's next play, Painting Churches, premiered on February 8, 1983, at Second Stage Theater, under the direction of Carole Rothman.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/09/theater/theater-bostonian-life-in-painting-churches.html|title=THEATER: BOSTONIAN LIFE IN 'PAINTING CHURCHES'|last=Rich|first=Frank|date=February 9, 1983|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 12, 2017|issn=0362-4331}} The cast included Marian Seldes, Frances Conroy and Donald Moffat. It transferred to the off-Broadway Lambs Theater where it ran from November 22, 1983, through May 20, 1984, playing 206 performances.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lortel.org/Archives/Production/2001|title=Painting Churches – Lortel Archives|website=www.lortel.org|language=en|access-date=March 12, 2017}} In this production Marian Seldes was joined by Elizabeth McGovern and George Martin. Painting Churches won several Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Off-Broadway Play, Best Actress (Marian Seldes) and the John Gassner Playwriting Award.{{Cite web|url=http://outercritics.org/award-results/awards-for-1983-1984/|title=AWARDS FOR 1983–1984|website=outercritics.org|language=en|access-date=March 12, 2017}} The play was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/tina-howe|title=Finalist: Painting Churches, by Tina Howe |website=www.pulitzer.org|language=en|access-date=March 12, 2017}}

In 1986, Painting Churches was filmed for PBS's American Playhouse, directed by Jack O'Brien. That cast included Sada Thompson, Donald Moffat and Roxanne Hart.{{cite web |title=Painting Churches |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/472958/painting-churches#overview |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=August 30, 2023 |language=en}} It was revived off-Broadway by the Keen Company in March 2012, directed by Carl Forsman, starring Kathleen Chalfant, John Cunningham, and Kate Turnbull.{{cite news |title=In a revival of Tina Howe's 'Painting Churches,' Kathleen Chalfant nails her Boston blueblood matron |url=https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2012/03/in-a-revival-of-tina-howes-painting-churches-kathleen-chalfant-nails-her-boston-blueblood-matron-002776 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=POLITICO |date=March 7, 2012 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Gans |first1=Andrew |title=John Cunningham Replaces Richard Easton in Keen Company's Painting Churches |url=https://playbill.com/article/john-cunningham-replaces-richard-easton-in-keen-companys-painting-churches-com-186513 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=Playbill |date=January 17, 2012}}

In November 1986, Howe's next play, Coastal Disturbances premiered at Second Stage, under the direction of Carole Rothman.[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2991 "'Coastal Disturbances' Off-Broadway Listing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021212810/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2991 |date=October 21, 2012}} The play was set on a private New England beach.{{cite news |last1=Christiansen |first1=Richard |title='COASTAL DISTURBANCES' SLIDES ON FOUNDATION OF QUICKSAND |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-10-01-8802040138-story.html |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=October 1, 1988}} Annette Bening and Tim Daly led the cast. The play was transferred to the Circle-in-the-Square Theater on Broadway in March 1987. It was nominated for a Tony award for Best Play along with Carole Rothman for Best Direction and Annette Bening for Best Actress.{{cite web |title=The Tony Award Nominations |url=https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/year/1987/category/any/show/any/ |website=www.tonyawards.com |access-date=August 30, 2023}} Frank Rich of The New York Times hailed it as "Hilarious", "erotic" and "intoxicating".{{cite news |last1=Rich |first1=Frank |title=STAGE: FROM TINA HOWE, 'COASTAL DISTURBANCES' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/20/theater/stage-from-tina-howe-coastal-disturbances.html |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=November 20, 1986}}

This was followed by Approaching Zanzibar, which shows the Blossom family traveling across the United States to visit Olivia, a sick relative. The play premiered at the Second Stage Theatre on April 8, 1989, directed by Carole Rothman, and starred Jane Alexander as Charlotte Blossom, Harris Yulin as her husband, Angela Goethals as her daughter and Bethel Leslie as her dying aunt.Howe, Tina. [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0573691282 "Script"] Approaching Zanzibar, Samuel French, Inc., 1989, {{ISBN|0573691282}}, p. 5 The play was produced at the Southwark Playhouse, London, in August 1997. The reviewer for The Independent wrote: "... a zany, expertly mimed sequence throws the tensions of cooped-up family car travel into rollicking relief when, in fantasy, the parents and children swap roles. But, like so much off-Broadway fare, the play insists on coating the pill of pain in the sickly sugar of false reassurance."Taylor, Paul. [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/review-theatre-approaching-zanzibar-southwark-playhouse-london-1244345.html# "Review: Theatre 'Approaching Zanzibar' Southwark Playhouse, London"] The Independent, August 8, 1997

One Shoe Off opened Off-Broadway in April 1993 in a Second Stage Theatre production at the Public Theater. The Variety reviewer described the play as "the dining-room play that dissolves in an emotive crossfire of accusation, revelation and reconciliation", "offbeat, sometimes ferociously funny" with an "over-the-top tone".Gerard, Jeremy. [https://variety.com/1993/legit/reviews/one-shoe-off-1200431984 "Legit/Reviews/Review: 'One Shoe Off'"], Variety, April 16, 1993

Her play Pride's Crossing, described by Playbill as a "family-inspired memory play" was produced Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center from December 7, 1997, to April 5, 1998 after an engagement at the Old Globe Theatre (San Diego) in 1997. The play was revived Off-Broadway in 2004.[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=380 Pride's Crossing] lortel.org, accessed August 26, 2015Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/tina-howes-prides-crossing-gets-nyc-revival-at-t.-schreiber-studio-march-25-118633# "Tina Howe's 'Pride's Crossing' Gets NYC Revival at T. Schreiber Studio, March 25 – April 18"] playbill.com, March 25, 2004 She received the New York Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Play in 1998 for this play.

Rembrandt's Gift premiered at the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2002, directed by John Rando and starring Penny Fuller and a revised version was produced by the Madison Repertory Theatre (Wisconsin) in September 2005.Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/tina-howes-gift-and-andre-de-shields-in-our-town-punctuate-madison-reps-sea-126448# "Tina Howe's Gift and Andre De Shields in 'Our Town' Punctuate Madison Rep's Season"] Playbill, June 10, 2005 The three person play focuses on an "unlikely, poignant and very funny visit by the great 17th-century Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn.[http://actorstheatre.org/shows/rembrandts-gift-2001-2002/ "'Rembrandt's Gift', 2002"] actorstheatre.org, accessed September 9, 2015

Howe wrote English translations of Eugène Ionesco's The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, which were produced at the Atlantic Theater Company in September 2004.Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/atlantic-theater-company-postpones-howes-ionesco-double-bill-118130# "Atlantic Theater Company Postpones Howe's Ionesco Double-Bill"] playbill.com, February 25, 2004 The plays were directed by Carl Forsman and featured Jan Maxwell, John Ellison Conlee, Michael Countryman and

Robert Stanton.[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3791 "'The Bald Soprano' and 'The Lesson' Listing"] lortel.org, accessed September 8, 2015

The Atlantic Theater Company presented Birth and After Birth Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater, opening in September 2006 in previews. Described by Playbill as "a play about parenting", the play was written in 1972; it was directed by Atlantic associate artistic director Christian Parker.Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/tina-howes-birth-and-after-birth-gets-nyc-premiere-by-atlantic-theater-comp-134861# "Tina Howe's 'Birth and After Birth' Gets NYC Premiere by Atlantic Theater Company"] playbill.com, September 13, 2006 The play was first presented at the Wilma Theatre (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in September 1995, after being rewritten and having readings, and a workshop at the California State University Summer Arts Festival. The reviewer of this production wrote: "The play bears the mark of a youthful playwright. Howe's brilliant mind is teeming with enough ideas to fill several plays, and her themes and style at times suggest an early fascination with older playwrights such as Ionesco and Albee."White, Helena M. "Birth and After Birth (review)", Theatre Journal 48.2 (1996) 223–225 (abstract), September 17, 1995. Birth and After Birth is "a comedy... in which a self-centered, tantrum-throwing monster of a 4-year-old is played by a fully grown adult male."Tallmer, Jerry. [http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_177/after34yearsbirth.html "After 34 years, 'Birth and After Birth' is born"] downtownexpress.com, Volume 19, Issue 20, September 29 – October 5, 2006

Chasing Manet opened Off-Broadway at Primary Stages in April 2009, starring Jane Alexander and Lynn Cohen. The play takes place in a nursing home, with the "rebellious painter" and a Jewish woman becoming friends and planning on escaping to go to Paris aboard the QE2.Hernandez, Ernio. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/jane-alexander-and-lynn-cohen-begin-chasing-manet-off-broadway-march-24-159301# "Jane Alexander and Lynn Cohen Begin Chasing Manet Off-Broadway March 24"] playbill.com, March 24, 2009 Jane Alexander was a friend of Howe's from Sarah Lawrence College.

Howe provided the text for the interdisciplinary work Cheri, conceived, directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke, which opened Off-Broadway in a Signature Theatre Company production at the Pershing Square Signature Center-Irene Diamond Stage on November 19, 2013, in previews.Hetrick, Adam. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/amy-irving-joins-cast-of-signature-theatre-premiere-of-martha-clarkes-cheri-210593# "Amy Irving Joins Cast of Signature Theatre Premiere of Martha Clarke's 'Chéri'"] Playbill, 15, October 2013

Her full-length play Singing Beach premiered Off-Broadway at HERE Arts Center on July 22, 2017, in previews in a limited engagement, produced by Theatre 167. Directed by Ari Laura Kreith, the cast featured Erin Beirnard, Devin Haqq, Jackson Demott Hill, John P. Keller, Tuck Milligan, Elodie Morss, and Naren Weiss. The play involves the effects that a Category 4 hurricane has on the Sleeper family and is concerned with climate change.Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/article/tina-howes-singing-beach-makes-world-premiere# "Tina Howe's Singing Beach Makes World Premiere"] Playbill, July 22, 2017

Howe's plays have been produced in regional theatres in the United States, such as Louisville, Los Angeles,

Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Annapolis, Maryland Greenfield, Phil. [https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/02/01/painting-churches-warm-honest-portrait-of-a-family/ "'Painting Churches' Warm, Honest Portrait Of A Family"] The Baltimore Sun, February 1, 1991 and San Diego, as well as in London. Her plays have premiered in venues such as the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville (Rembrandt's Gift, 2002)Whaley, Charles. [http://www.curtainup.com/humana2002.html "A CurtainUp Feature The Humana Festival: 2002"] curtainup.com, accessed August 26, 2015 the Public Theater (The Art of Dining, 1979), and the Second Stage Theatre (One Shoe Off, 1983).[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=1168 "'One Shoe Off' 1993"] lortel.org, accessed September 6, 2015

Other

Howe had taught master classes at New York University, UCLA, Columbia University and Carnegie Mellon.

Howe was a Visiting Professor of playwriting and Playwright in Residence at Hunter College in New York City, retiring in 2015. She was the head of the two year MFA playwriting program which began in 2010.Pandolfo, Nicole. [http://www.americantheatre.org/2015/05/22/tina-howe-playwright-mentor-online-dating-advisor/ "Tina Howe: Playwright, Mentor, Online Dating Advisor"] americantheatre.org, May 22, 2015[http://www.stagevoices.com/stage_voices/2010/01/tina-howethe-new-hunter-college-mfa-in-playwriting-programdeadline-march-1.html "Tina Howe/The New Hunter College MFA In Playwriting Program/Deadline: March 1"] stagevoices.com, accessed September 6, 2015[http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/theatre/faculty-staff-1-page "Theatre Faculty and Staff"] hunter.cuny.edu, accessed September 6, 2015 (Annie Baker has taken the position formerly held by Howe.Cox, Gordon. [https://variety.com/2015/legit/features/annie-baker-the-flick-pulitzer-prize-1201493646/ "Playwright Annie Baker On Life After The Pulitzer"] ''Variety, May 14, 2015)

Howe was a member of the council of the Dramatists Guild of America from 1990.[http://americantheatrewing.org/biography/detail/tina_howe "Tina Howe Biography"], American Theatre Wing, accessed June 20, 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807110942/http://americantheatrewing.org/biography/detail/tina_howe |date=August 7, 2009 }}

Several of her works can be read in the volumes Coastal Disturbances: Four Plays by Tina Howe and Approaching Zanzibar and Other Plays.[http://www.tcg.org/ecommerce/aboutauthor.cfm?ID=TCG408 Tina Howe], Theatre Communications Group, accessed November 21, 2011

Her papers are held by the [http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/collections/htc/ Harvard Theatre Collection] at Houghton Library.{{cite web |title=Collection: Tina Howe papers {{!}} HOLLIS for |url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/24/resources/3949 |website=hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu |access-date=August 30, 2023}}

Personal life

Howe was married to historian Norman Levy from 1961 until his death in 2022. He taught American History at the University at Albany from 1967 to 1973.[http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/howetina.html "4th Annual Burian Lecture, February 8, 2000"] albany.edu, accessed September 6, 2015 The couple had two children, and lived in the Bronx after years on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Howe died in Manhattan on August 28, 2023, at age 85, from complications of a hip fracture sustained in a fall.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/08/tina-howe-dead-1235530523/|title=Tina Howe dead at 85|last=Evans|first=Greg|date=August 29, 2023|accessdate=August 29, 2023|work=Deadline Hollywood}}

Plays

Closing Time (1959)
The Nest (1970)
Birth and After Birth (1972–1977){{cite news |last1=Brantley |first1=Ben |title=The Art of Bringing Up Baby, With All Its Thrill and Terror |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/theater/reviews/04birt.html |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=October 4, 2006}}{{cite web |title=Birth and After Birth |url=https://www.abouttheartists.com/plays/1190-birth-and-after-birth-by-tina-howe |website=www.abouttheartists.com |access-date=August 30, 2023}}
Museum (1976)
The Art of Dining (1979)
Painting Churches (1983)
Coastal Disturbances (1986)
Approaching Zanzibar (1989)
One Shoe Off (1993)
East of the Sun and West of the Moon (1994–95)[http://www.playsforyoungaudiences.org/scripts/east-of-the-sun-and-west-of-the-moon "East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis, 1994–95 season"] playsforyoungaudiences.org, accessed August 26, 2015
Pride's Crossing (1997)
Rembrandt's Gift (2002)
The Bald Soprano (English translation of Eugène Ionesco, 2004){{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Margaret |date=August 29, 2023 |title=Celebrated Playwright Tina Howe Dies at 85 |url=https://playbill.com/article/celebrated-playwright-tina-howe-dies-at-85 |access-date=August 30, 2023 |website=Playbill}}
The Lesson (English translation of Eugène Ionesco, 2004)
Chasing Manet (2009)
Cheri (2013)[http://www.signaturetheatre.org/tickets/production.aspx?pid=3099 Chéri] signaturetheatre.org, accessed September 7, 2015
Breaking the Spell (2013){{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Andy |date=2013-08-07 |title=Small Bites, Seasonable and Subtle |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/theater/reviews/first-of-two-summer-shorts-programs-at-59e59-theaters.html |access-date=2023-10-10 |issn=0362-4331}}
Singing Beach (2017)
Where Women Go{{Cite web |title=Where Women Go |url=https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/96090/where-women-go |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Concord Theatricals |language=en}} (2023)

Awards and honors

Howe received a Rockefeller Grant (1983), two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship (1990), and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature (1993). Howe was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D) degree from Whittier College in 1997Lefkowitz, David. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/l.a.s-whittier-honors-tina-howe-with-doctorate-and-show-may-21-23-70255# "L.A.'s Whittier Honors Tina Howe With Doctorate and Show May 21–23"] Playbill, May 4, 1997[http://www.whittier.edu/alumni/honorarydegrees "Honorary Degrees Whittier"] whittier.edu, accessed September 6, 2015 and Honoris causa, Doctor of Letters from Bowdoin College (1998).{{cite web|url=http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=47409|title=Baylor's Horton Foote Festival to Honor Award-Winning Playwright Tina Howe|last=Patton|first=Paige|work=Baylor University|date=October 9, 2007 |accessdate=November 4, 2011}}[https://library.bowdoin.edu/arch/collections/college-archives-and-records-management/honors/howe88.pdf "Bowdoin College, Commencement, 1988"] library.bowdoin.edu, accessed September 6, 2015

Howe received the William Inge Theatre Festival Award in 2005.[http://ingecenter.org/past-festivals-by-year-and-hon/ "Past Festivals by Year and Honoree"] ingecenter.org, accessed August 26, 2015 In 2007 she received the Horton Foote Award, presented at the Baylor University Horton Foote American Playwrights Festival.

In 2012, she received the 3rd Annual Lilly Award Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lilly Awards were created to "recognize the extraordinary contributions made by women to the American Theater."Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/estelle-parsons-and-tina-howe-receive-lifetime-achievement-awards-at-3rd-an-194200# "Estelle Parsons and Tina Howe Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at 3rd Annual Lilly Awards June 4"] Playbill, June 4, 2012

Howe was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame for 2017. At the ceremony in November 2017 at the Gershwin Theatre, she was introduced by her long-time friend Jane Alexander, who said "She has passion, wit and absurdity.... [her plays are an] operatic dive into the depths.... She writes as no one else does about women..."Rawson, Christopher. [http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance/2017/11/21/On-the-scene-for-the-Theater-Hall-of-Fame-Audra-McDonald-Matthew-Broderick-and-more/stories/201711210076 "On the scene for the Theater Hall of Fame: Audra McDonald, Matthew Broderick and more"] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 21, 2017

=List of awards=

1983 Obie Award for Distinguished Playwriting (winner)
1983 Rockefeller Grant for Distinguished Playwriting (winner){{cite web |title=Howe, Tina 1937– {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/howe-tina-1937 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=August 30, 2023}}
1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Painting Churches (finalist)
1987 Tony Award Best Play Coastal Disturbances (nominee)
1990 Guggenheim Fellowship (winner)[http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/tina-howe/ "Tina Howe Field of Study: Drama and Performance Art 1990"] gf.org, accessed September 8, 2015
1993 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature (winner)[http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev "Awards"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911235502/http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev |date=September 11, 2010 }} artsandletters.org, accessed September 8, 2015
1997 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Pride's Crossing (finalist)
1998 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, Pride's Crossing (winner){{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Mike |title=Tina Howe, Tony-Nominated 'Coastal Disturbances' Playwright, Dies at 85 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/tina-howe-dead-coastal-disturbances-playwright-1235577410/ |access-date=August 30, 2023 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=August 29, 2023}}
1998 Dramatists Guild Fund, Madge Evans & Sidney S. Kingsley Award (winner)[https://www.dramatistsguild.com/memberdirectory/getmembership.aspx?cid=2540 "Membership Profile Tina Howe"] dramatistsguild.com, accessed September 8, 2015
2005 William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater (winner){{cite web |title=Tina Howe |url=https://playsfornewaudiences.org/pages/playwrights__tina-howe |website=Plays for New Audiences |access-date=August 30, 2023}}
2015 PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award, Master American Dramatist{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-pen-announces-award-winners-and-shortlists-20150513-story.html |title=PEN announces award-winners and shortlists |newspaper=LA Times |author=Carolyn Kellogg |date=May 13, 2015 |accessdate=May 14, 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.pen.org/2015-pen-literary-award-winners |title=2015 PEN Literary Award Winners |work=pen.org |author= |date= May 11, 2015|accessdate=May 14, 2015}}

References

External links

[http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/014762863/catalog Tina Howe papers, circa 1958–2015]. Houghton Library, Harvard University.
{{IBDB name|8894}}
[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Tina&last=Howe&middle= Internet Off-Broadway Database listing (Lortel Archives) for Tina Howe]
[http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsH/howe-tina.html Complete list of Plays by Tina Howe]
[http://www.filmreference.com/film/55/Tina-Howe.html filmreference.com, Tina Howe Biography (1937–2023)]
{{IMDb name|0397901}}
[http://www.pulitzer.org/faceted_search/results/%22Tina+Howe%22 Pulitzer Org. listing for Tina Howe, 1997 and 1984 showing finalist]