View source for The Shadow Box

{{short description|Play by Michael Cristofer}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = The Shadow Box
| image      =
| image_size =
| caption    =
| writer     = [[Michael Cristofer]]
| characters = Maggie<br>Beverly<br>Felicity<br>Agnes<br>Brian<br>Joe<br>Mark<br>The Interviewer<br>Steve
| setting    = Three cottages of a large hospital
| premiere   = March 31, 1977
| place      = [[Morosco Theatre]]<br>[[New York City, New York]]
| orig_lang  = [[English language|English]]
| subject    = 
| genre      = Drama
| web        =
}}

'''''The Shadow Box''''' is a play written by actor [[Michael Cristofer]]. The play made its Broadway debut on March 31, 1977. It is the winner of the 1977 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]] and [[Tony Award for Best Play]].<ref name=Gates>{{cite magazine| last1=Gates |first1=Anita |author-link= Anita Gates| title='Theater; Time and 'The Shadow Box'|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/13/theater/theater-time-and-the-shadow-box.html |magazine= [[NYT]] |date=November 13, 1994 |access-date=December 30, 2017}}</ref> The play was made into a telefilm, directed by [[Paul Newman]] in 1980.

==Synopsis==
The play takes place over 24 hours in three separate cottages on the grounds of a large hospital in the United States. Within the three cabins are three patients: Joe, Brian and Felicity, who are to live with their respective families as they have reached the end of their treatment. They have agreed to be part of a psychological program where they live within the hospital grounds and have interviews with a psychiatrist.<ref name=frank>Leah, Frank D. [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/12/nyregion/theater-review-the-shadow-box-explores-mortality.html “THEATER REVIEW; The Shadow Box Explores Mortality”] ''The New York Times'' 12 November 12, 1989</ref><ref name=script>Cristofer, Michael. "Introduction", "The Shadow Box: A Drama in Two Acts", Samuel French, Inc., 1977, {{ISBN|0573616132}}, pp.3-7</ref>

;Act One
It is morning, and Joe is sitting in the interview area talking to the interviewer.<ref name=script/> We are introduced to the idea that he is dying and that his family is about to arrive, whom he hasn’t seen for most of his treatment. The interviewer acts as a tool for each of the patients and their families to relay their feelings about their situation; the characters speak bluntly to the interviewer. Each of the families is introduced in this section of the play. When Joe’s wife Maggie and son Steve arrive, it quickly becomes apparent that Maggie is avoiding dealing with the prospect of her future without Joe. She refuses to enter their cabin,<ref name=denver>Kennedy, Lisa. [http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23151407/review-refusals-and-surrender-dance-shadow-box "Theater review: Refusals and surrender dance in 'The Shadow Box'"] ''Denver Post'', May 3, 2013</ref> and Steve has no idea of his father’s impending death.

Brian takes an aloof approach to his illness; he wants to live each day until the last. Rather than skirt the issues, he confronts them with a dark humor. His young gay lover Mark is with him at the camp.<ref name=ben/> Beverly, Brian's "trashy but devoted ex-wife," arrives.<ref>Gerard, Jeremy. [https://variety.com/1994/legit/reviews/the-shadow-box-2-1200439280/ "Review. 'The Shadow Box'"] ''Variety'', November 20, 1994</ref>

The third family is Felicity and her daughter Agnes. Felicity is "an old woman who drifts between senility and combative lucidness." Her daughter Agnes is "a mousy, browbeaten spinster who tries to keep her mother happy with fictional letters from a daughter who in fact is long dead."<ref name=ben>Brantley, Ben. [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/21/theater/theater-review-the-shadow-box-death-outruns-a-play-from-1977.html?pagewanted= "Theater Review. 'The Shadow Box'; Death Outruns a Play From 1977"] ''The New York Times'', November 21, 1994</ref>

It is a normal day for each of these characters; getting to learn their individuality is the heart of the play. The act flows between the serious and the humorous. The first act reveals that each of the three characters is radically different. They are connected by their futures, whether they are terminal or not. As the act ends, Joe and Maggie are beginning to talk, Agnes is struggling to connect to her mother, and Brian and Beverly are dancing.

;Act Two
It is nearing evening. Joe is still coaxing Maggie to come into the cabin, Brian and Beverly are reminiscing, Mark is becoming frustrated by his lover's jollity, and Agnes is beginning to talk to the interviewer. As the act continues, cracks are shown in Brian’s brutal forthrightness about his illness and Mark's feelings about his impending death. Beverly provides some raw insight within her seemingly scattered exterior. Joe and Maggie continue to struggle to have a deeper conversation about their future. Agnes reveals a secret about her sister Claire. We learn that she died some years ago in an accident in Louisiana. Over the past two years, Agnes has been writing letters to her mother from her sister, and the interviewer presents her with some hard questions. More is learned about the characters' lives before they became ill, material that makes their current situation more poignant. By the end of the act, no moral conclusions have been drawn, no one has died, and no one is going to live forever. The audience thinks not about each person's impending death but what to do with this "moment" that each has to live.<ref name=frank/>

==Productions==
''The Shadow Box'' premiered in a production of the Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in the 1975-1976 season, and it was directed by Gordon Davidson (artistic director of the Mark Taper Forum).<ref name=script/><ref>Boehm, Mike. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-23-et-boehm23-story.html "Davidson the director reemerges"] ''Los Angeles Times'', May 23, 2003</ref>

The play opened on Broadway on March 31, 1977 at the [[Morosco Theatre]]<ref>Barnes, Clive. [https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/01/archives/new-jersey-weekly-stage-inside-the-shadow-box.html?sq=%2522The+Shadow+Box%2522&scp=1&st=p "Stage: Inside 'The Shadow Box'"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), April 1, 1977, p.50</ref> and closed on December 31, 1977, after 315 performances.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/22/archives/westchester-opinion-shadow-box-going-out-with-the-old-year.html?sq=%2522The+Shadow+Box%2522&scp=2&st=p "'Shadow Box' Going Out With the Old Year"] ''The New York Times'' (abstract), December 22, 1977, p.57</ref><ref name=vault>[http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/2387/The-Shadow-Box "'The Shadow Box' Broadway"] playbillvault.com, accessed November 17, 2015</ref>

The play was directed by [[Gordon Davidson (director)|Gordon Davidson]] with scenery by [[Ming Cho Lee]], costumes by Bill Walker, and lighting by Ronald Wallace. The cast featured [[Josef Sommer]] (Interviewer), [[Simon Oakland]] (Joe), [[Vincent Spano]] (Steve), [[Joyce Ebert]] (Maggie), [[Laurence Luckinbill]] (Brian), [[Mandy Patinkin]] (Mark), [[Patricia Elliott]] (Beverly), [[Rose Gregorio]] (Agnes), and [[Geraldine Fitzgerald]] (Felicity).<ref name=vault/>

[[Mary Carver]] replaced Fitzgerald on April 30, 1977, and [[Clifton James]] replaced Oakland on May 23, 1977.<ref name=vault/><ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3990 "'The Shadow Box', 1977 listing"] InternetBroadwayDatabase, accessed November 24, 2011</ref>

In 1993, a planned high school production of the play in Tucson, Arizona was cancelled due to the play's "language." Critics of the move charged that the play was being censored for its treatment of homosexuality. In response, actors including [[William Baldwin]], [[Christopher Reeve]], [[Mercedes Ruehl]], [[Harry Hamlin]], [[Blair Brown]] and [[Estelle Parsons]] staged a reading of the play in Tucson produced by [[People For the American Way]].<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-04-ca-63819-story.html "This Won't Be Your Typical High School Debate : Theater: Arizona school's cancellation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play spurs a censorship forum Monday."] ''Los Angeles Times'', December 4, 1993</ref>

== Film adaptation ==
Cristofer adapted the play for a television movie in 1980, directed by [[Paul Newman]]. The cast featured [[John Considine (actor)|John Considine]] (Interviewer), [[James Broderick]] (Joe), [[Valerie Harper]] (Maggie), [[Christopher Plummer]] (Brian), [[Ben Masters]] (Mark), [[Joanne Woodward]] (Beverly), [[Melinda Dillon]] (Agnes), and [[Sylvia Sidney]] (Felicity).<ref name=tcm>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/22731/shadow-box "'The Shadow Box' Film"] tcm.com, accessed November 17, 2015</ref>

The film premiered at the [[Deauville Film Festival]] on September 9, 1980.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=International Sound Track |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1980-09-10_300_6/page/51|date=10 September 1980|page=51|via=[[Archive.org]]|access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> It was nominated for a [[Golden Globe]]<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081492/ "'The Shadow Box' Film"] imdb.com, accessed November 17, 2015</ref> and three [[Emmy Awards]]: Outstanding Drama Special, Teleplay adaption (Cristofer), and Director (Newman).<ref name=tcm/>

==Awards and nominations==
Source: PlaybillVault<ref name=vault/>

;Awards
* 1977 [[Tony Award for Best Play]]
* 1977 Tony Award Direction of a Play (Gordon Davidson)
* 1977 [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]<ref>[http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Drama "Pulitzer Prize for Drama"] pulitzer.org, accessed November 17, 2015</ref>
* 1977 Clarence Derwent Award, Most Promising Female Performer (Rose Gregorio)

;Nominations
* 1977 [[Drama Desk Award|Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New American Play]]
* 1977 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Rose Gregorio, Joyce Ebert)
* 1977 Tony Award, Featured Actor in a Play (Laurence Luckinbill)
* 1977 Tony Award, Featured Actress in a Play (Rose Gregorio, Patricia Elliot)

==References==
{{reflist}}

* {{cite book| editor-first=Marie Rose | editor-last=Napierkowski | chapter=The Shadow Box: Introduction | title=Drama for Students | volume=15 | location=Detroit | work=eNotes | publisher=Gale | url=http://www.enotes.com/shadow-box/introduction | date=January 2006 | access-date=2008-06-24}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IBDB show|7899}}
* {{IBDB title|3990|The Shadow Box|(1977 production)}}
* {{IBDB title|4277|The Shadow Box|(1994 revival)}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q27788198|id=tt0081492|title=The Shadow Box|description=(1980 film)}}

{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for ''The Shadow Box''
| list = 
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film 1971–1999}}
{{Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1976-2000}}
{{TonyAwardBestPlay 1976-2000}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow Box}}
[[Category:1977 plays]]
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning works]]
[[Category:Tony Award–winning plays]]
[[Category:1980 films]]
[[Category:American plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:Works by Michael Cristofer]]