Significant Other (play)

Significant Other is an American play written by Joshua Harmon, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2015, followed by a Broadway production at the Booth Theatre in Spring 2017.

Significant Other
Written byJoshua Harmon
Characters7
Date premiered2015 Off-Broadway; 2017 Broadway
Original languageEnglish
GenreComedy / Drama
SettingPresent-day New York City
Official site

Productions

The play was produced Off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company at the Laura Pels Theatre.[1] The play premiered on May 16, 2015 in previews, officially on June 18, and closed on August 16, 2015.[2] [3] Directed by Trip Cullman, the cast featured Gideon Glick as Jordan, with John Behlmann, Sas Goldberg, Lindsay Mendez, Carra Paterson, Luke Smith, and Academy Award nominee Barbara Barrie, in her return to the stage at age 84.[4][5]

The play transferred to Broadway on February 14, 2017 (which the production billed as "Singles Awareness Day"), and it officially opened on March 2 at the Booth Theatre.[6] The Off-Broadway cast and creative team remained intact, with Rebecca Naomi Jones replacing Carra Paterson in the role of Vanessa. It marked the Broadway debuts for both playwright Harmon and director Cullman.[7][8] The production ended its limited Broadway engagement on April 23, 2017, after a run of 79 performances. The Broadway production was filmed by New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.[9] The production team included: Scenic Design by Mark Wendland, Costume Design by Kaye Voyce, Lighting Design by Japhy Weideman, and Sound Design by Daniel Kluger.

The production was staged at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa with the following cast: Gabriel Meltz, Dominique Maher, Lesoko Seabe, Lucy Tops, Michèle Maxwell, Roberto Kyle and Ryan de Villiers. The production was directed by Greg Karvellas

The play is currently licensed to professional and amateur theaters through Samuel French.[10] Prior to its Broadway run, it was produced by the SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, Massachusetts, from September to October 2016.[11] Harmon's previous play, the comedy Bad Jews, was one of the most-produced plays in America in the 2014–2015 season.[12]

Plot synopsis

This play concerns the lives of four friends in their late 20s and their search for relationships in 21st century New York City. Jordan is single, and finding Mr. Right is much easier said than done. While surrounding himself with his close group of girlfriends, it comes to pass that the only thing harder than looking for love is supporting the loved ones around him. Through the play, the audience also meets Jordan's grandmother, coworkers, potential lovers, and his friends' future husbands.

Playwright Joshua Harmon explained the premise: “How do you make life work for yourself when you feel that you’re not living the life you’re supposed to be living or want to be living? And how do you deal with that when the changes that you need to make are in some ways outside of your control?”[11]

Reception

The New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood gave the play a rave review in its Off-Broadway premiere, calling it "an absolutely wonderful new play. Entirely delightful, richly funny and heart-stirring."[13] The play was included in The New York Times Top Ten Productions of 2015.[14]

The CurtainUp reviewer wrote "Harmon has once again proved himself to be a wonderful wordsmith and astute chronicler of the quandaries faced by the millenial [sic] generation."[4]

When reviewing a November 2017 production of the play produced by About Face Theatre Company in Chicago, Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones wrote, "Significant Other is both a good night out — a show ideal for a Friday night with pals after a few drinks — and a quite sophisticated exploration of the complex and changing dynamic between gay men and the women who love them. A black comedy about a painful transition that hits many of us urbanites in our late 20s or early 30s and goes a long way toward explaining why weddings can be such fraught affairs for anyone stuck in a tux or matching crinoline."[15]

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References
  1. "Meet The Next Big Thing In Theater". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  2. Soloski, Alexis (2015-06-11). "With 'Significant Other,' Joshua Harmon Happily Writes About the Unhappy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  3. "Significant Other". lortel.org. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  4. Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review. 'Significant Other'" CurtainUp, June 12, 2015
  5. Isherwood, Charles (June 18, 2015). "Review: In 'Significant Other', a Young Man Pines as His Pals Pair Off". The New York Times.
  6. Gans, Andrew. " 'Significant Other' Begins Previews on Broadway Valentine’s Day" Playbill, February 14, 2017
  7. " 'Significant Other’ Meets the Press Pre Broadway Opening" theaterpizzazz.com, January 17, 2017
  8. Staff. "Read Reviews for Broadway’s 'Significant Other'" Playbill, March 2, 2017
  9. "Breaking Up is Hard To Do: SIGNIFICANT OTHER Will Play Final Broadway Performance 4/23". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  10. "Significant Other". www.samuelfrench.com.
  11. Wallenberg, Christopher. "One is the loneliest number in Harmon’s ‘Significant Other’" The Boston Globe, September 8, 2016
  12. "The Top 10 Most-Produced Plays of the 2014–15 Season". 23 September 2014.
  13. Isherwood, Charles (June 19, 2015). "Review: In 'Significant Other,' a Young Man Pines as His Pals Pair Off". The New York Times.
  14. Brantley, Ben; Isherwood, Charles (2015-12-08). "The Best Theater of 2015". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  15. Jones, Chris (November 13, 2017). "Reviews. 'Significant Other'". Chicago Tribune.
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