Sally and Marsha
Encyclopedia
Sally and Marsha is a comedy-drama, written by Sybille Pearson
and directed by Lynne Meadow
. It premiered Off-Broadway
in 1982.
, and the play was read there by Jill Eikenberry
and Pamela Reed
in May 1980. The play was developed by the Yale Repertory Theatre and first produced in a staged reading at the O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, Connecticut
in 1980. The play was then produced at the Yale Winterfest in 1981, with Francis Conroy as Sally and Robin Bartlett
as Marsha. Of the 1981 Winterfest production, the New York Times wrote that this was a play "of promise." "The play occasionally dips into archness and ends on a predictable note, but, as written from a woman's point of view, it has some enlivening and, for men, some disheartening comments on male-female, husband-wife relations...offers two choice, contrasting roles."
Sally and Marsha premiered on February 9, 1982, at the Off-Broadway
Manhattan Theatre Club
Stage 73and ran for 56 performances. It starred Bernadette Peters
as Sally and Christine Baranski
as Marsha. According to The New York Times, "If the reviews are good, Paramount [Pictures] and Lester Osterman will move the play to Broadway."
This production marked the return of Bernadette Peters to the New York stage after eight years, when she joined the production four days before rehearsal.
, moves into an apartment in New York City
. She is an unsophisticated young mother with two small children, whose husband travels. She meets her neighbor, Marsha, whose husband is a resident
in orthopedics. Marsha is a cynical and neurotic native New Yorker. Throughout the course of the time they spend together, the women discuss their respective views on life. Although outwardly different, they come to be supportive of each other.
wrote: "Every once in a while, her [Pearson] play spills beyond its rigid formula to give us honest, even touching glimpses of its heroines' lives....Sally is the perfect Peters role-an indomitable waif adrift in the big city."
John Simon
wrote in New York Magazine that " 'Sally and Marsha' feels like a memory play...It is almost as if Sybille Pearson, the fledgling playwright, had been given a set of theatrical building blocks used to death and asked to put them together in a way to coax new life out of them. Impossibe, alas; but Miss Pearson does give us a handful of funny lines, a thimbleful of touching moments, and a tiny peephole on what may become a valid theatrical career. Bernadette Peters, having played some such Sally all her life, invests her part with enormous conviction and warmth, and incisiveness; Christine Baranski...conjures up moments that seem newly invented."
Peters received a Drama Desk Award
nomination.
Sybille Pearson
Sybille Pearson is a playwright, musical theatre lyricist and librettist.-Biography:Pearson was a graduate student in the creative writing program at the City College of New York in 1980, when her play, the two-person comedy-drama Sally and Marsha was chosen to be produced at the Playwrights...
and directed by Lynne Meadow
Lynne Meadow
Lynne Meadow is an American theatre producer and director and a college professor.A cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr, Meadow attended the Yale School of Drama...
. It premiered Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 1982.
Productions
Pearson was a graduate student at City CollegeCity College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
, and the play was read there by Jill Eikenberry
Jill Eikenberry
Jill Eikenberry is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as lawyer Ann Kelsey in L.A. Law...
and Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
in May 1980. The play was developed by the Yale Repertory Theatre and first produced in a staged reading at the O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, Connecticut
Waterford, Connecticut
Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,152 at the 2000 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place .-Geography:...
in 1980. The play was then produced at the Yale Winterfest in 1981, with Francis Conroy as Sally and Robin Bartlett
Robin Bartlett
Robin Bartlett is an American actress who grew up in Switzerland.She was formerly married to the actor Alan Rosenberg....
as Marsha. Of the 1981 Winterfest production, the New York Times wrote that this was a play "of promise." "The play occasionally dips into archness and ends on a predictable note, but, as written from a woman's point of view, it has some enlivening and, for men, some disheartening comments on male-female, husband-wife relations...offers two choice, contrasting roles."
Sally and Marsha premiered on February 9, 1982, at the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
Stage 73and ran for 56 performances. It starred Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
as Sally and Christine Baranski
Christine Baranski
Christine Jane Baranski is an American stage and screen actress, and is perhaps best known for her Emmy Award winning portrayal as "Maryanne Thorpe" in the sitcom Cybill, and her Emmy nominated portrayal of "Diane Lockhart" in The Good Wife...
as Marsha. According to The New York Times, "If the reviews are good, Paramount [Pictures] and Lester Osterman will move the play to Broadway."
This production marked the return of Bernadette Peters to the New York stage after eight years, when she joined the production four days before rehearsal.
Plot
Sally, a housewife from South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, moves into an apartment in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She is an unsophisticated young mother with two small children, whose husband travels. She meets her neighbor, Marsha, whose husband is a resident
Residency (medicine)
Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...
in orthopedics. Marsha is a cynical and neurotic native New Yorker. Throughout the course of the time they spend together, the women discuss their respective views on life. Although outwardly different, they come to be supportive of each other.
Responses
New York Times theatre critic Frank RichFrank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
wrote: "Every once in a while, her [Pearson] play spills beyond its rigid formula to give us honest, even touching glimpses of its heroines' lives....Sally is the perfect Peters role-an indomitable waif adrift in the big city."
John Simon
John Simon (critic)
John Ivan Simon is an American author and literary, theater, and film critic.-Personal life:Simon was born in Subotica, Bačka, County of Bačka, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later, known as Yugoslavia . He is of Hungarian descent...
wrote in New York Magazine that " 'Sally and Marsha' feels like a memory play...It is almost as if Sybille Pearson, the fledgling playwright, had been given a set of theatrical building blocks used to death and asked to put them together in a way to coax new life out of them. Impossibe, alas; but Miss Pearson does give us a handful of funny lines, a thimbleful of touching moments, and a tiny peephole on what may become a valid theatrical career. Bernadette Peters, having played some such Sally all her life, invests her part with enormous conviction and warmth, and incisiveness; Christine Baranski...conjures up moments that seem newly invented."
Peters received a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination.