Come Back, Little Sheba (play)
Come Back, Little Sheba | |
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Written by | William Inge |
Date premiered | 1950 |
Place premiered | Westport Country Playhouse |
Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St. Louis.
Plot
Set in the Midwestern house of Lola and Doc Delaney, the plot centers on how their life is disrupted by the presence of a boarder, Marie, a college art student who has a keen interest in the young men around her.
Middle-aged Lola engages in mild flirtations with the milkman and the mailman. She sees in Marie a younger version of herself and encourages her pursuit of her hometown boyfriend, the wealthy Bruce, but also her classmate, the athletic Turk.
Doc, a chiropractor, abandoned a different career in medicine when he married a pregnant Lola, who subsequently lost the baby.
A recovering alcoholic, Doc maintains a precarious sobriety. To him, Marie represents youth and opportunities long gone; seeing her with Turk brings out resentments against Lola for ruining his life. Ultimately these feelings cause him to fall off the wagon, and act violently toward Lola. Frightened, she calls Doc's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, who comes to collect Doc and take him to a state asylum where he can be sobered up. When he comes back four days later, Marie has married Bruce and left, and he and Lola reconcile.
The title refers to Lola's missing dog, who disappeared before the play's opening and remains gone throughout the story. Lola hopes for the puppy's return throughout the play by calling "Come back, little Sheba" daily from the front door, but eventually faces reality and gives up on Sheba's return.
Productions
The play premiered at the
Reprising her Broadway role, Booth starred opposite Burt Lancaster as Doc and Terry Moore as Marie in a 1952 film adaptation. Booth won both the 1953 Academy Award for Best Actress and Best Actress - Drama Golden Globe for her portrayal of Lola.
In 1974, Clint Ballard, Jr. and Lee Goldsmith adapted the play for the musical stage. Kaye Ballard portrayed Lola in the Chicago tryout, but the production never reached Broadway as planned. In 2001, it was revived under the title Come Back, Little Sheba at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, with Donna McKechnie as Lola. A recording of this production was released by Original Cast Records.[1]
A
In 1984, the
A Broadway revival of the Inge play opened on January 24, 2008, at the
In 2017, the Transport Group put up a production Come Back, Little Sheba, which won the Obie Award for performance by Heather MacRae.[6]
References
- ^ "Come Back Little Sheba". Original Cast Records. 1 January 2002. Retrieved 2014-04-22. UPC 741117602526
- ^ "Come Back, Little Sheba". Internet Off Broadway Database. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ^ Henry, William III (23 July 1984). "Theater: The Laureate of Longing". Time. Archived from the original on January 18, 2005.
- ^ "Come Back, Little Sheba". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ^ Brantley, Ben (January 25, 2008). "So Quiet You Can Hear a Heart Stop". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- ^ Obie Awards, 2017 Winners Archived 2019-05-07 at the Wayback Machine.
External links
- Come Back, Little Sheba at the Internet Broadway Database
- TWO ACTORS; Shirley Booth and Sidney Blackmer Play 'Come Back, Little Sheba'[permanent dead link] By Brooks Atkinson, New York Times, February 26, 1950