THE STORY: The time is New Year’s Eve, 1929. In an elegant New York brownstone on “Millionaire’s Row” (West 23rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues), Sam Hammer, a Jewish department store tycoon and his non-Jewish wife, Amy, bid their last few guests farewell with a parting wish: “A better year ahead.” But, as that pivotal year begins, the shadow of the enormous London Terrace apartment complex under construction looms over their home. The shadow also portends Wall Street’s impending collapse, and the growing strain upon the Hammer’s marriage. Though Amy and Sam seem devoted to each other, their marriage has been childless, leading to a “what’s-the-point” abandonment of sexual relations. The looming Great Depression is likely to put a crimp in the lavish lifestyle of the Hammers and their friends—just as the rapidly rising giant London Terrace apartments across the street is about to rob their house of much of its light.
“Greenberg deserves acclaim for writing sensitively about time and how it passes…he once again shows us a world on the brink of upheaval and populates it with characters who greet it, or fret about it, with relentless eloquence.” —New York Magazine.
“An expert mixer of light comedy with dark dramatic strains, here [Greenberg] reverses the recipe, edging gingerly into the fraught realm of Strindberg or Ibsen.” —Broadway.com.
“HOUSE substantiates Greenberg’s talent for creating dazzling dialogue and intriguing characters full of quirks to enhance the theatricality of the story he’s telling.” —CurtainUp.
“Greenberg’s work takes place inside fevered indeterminacy…The skill of the writing constantly holds your interest…” —Village Voice.
