The Glory of Living
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The Glory of Living is a 1998 play by Rebecca Gilman. The play received its first production at the Circle Theater in Forest Park, Illinois. The play has won many awards and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
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[edit] Plot
The play opens with the main characters Lisa and Clint meeting for the first time. Clint has accompanied a friend to Lisa and her mother's mobile home to see Lisa's mother, a prostitute. Clint picks up on Lisa's unease about her mother's situation and begins charming her. The next scene opens a few years later and Clint and Lisa have married and have twins who are being cared for by Lisa's mother. The couple has been living in a series of motel rooms and are plying a scam whereby Lisa lures young girls into the room where Clint rapes and abuses them. Afterwards, Lisa murders the girls and disposes of their bodies. Plagued with guilt, Lisa calls the police with anonymous tips on the location of the bodies. Act I conludes with the couple's arrest.
Act II deals primarily with the couple's punishments but focuses on Lisa and her motives for her actions. The audience is shown that Lisa has not been able to emotionally mature and that has led her to live the life she has lived.
[edit] Notable Performances
- Royal Court Theater, London, 1999. Directed by Kathryn Hunter.
- New York 2001 directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman with Anna Paquin as Lisa.
- Dublin 2005 produced by AboutFACE Theatre Company at Project Arts Centre and at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght.
[edit] Awards and recognition
- Finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
- Joseph Jefferson Citation for Best Play in Chicago.
- American Theatre Critics Association's Osborn Award for Best New American Play.
