THE STORY: Chicago’s oldest cemetery is the backdrop for GRACELAND, the story of four lonely Chicagoans whose lives collide one August weekend while the Blue Angels airshow is in town. As fighter jets buzz the skies from dusk till dawn, estranged brother and sister Sam and Sara try to make sense of their father’s recent suicide. Sara’s one-night stand with Joe, an aging lothario, brings further trouble in the form of Joe’s mercurial teenage son, Miles.
“Ms. Fairey has a keen understanding of the way family relationships can evolve into delicate dances in which the unsaid takes on far more importance than anything articulated.” —The New York Times.
“Fairey’s thoughts run deep, but she possesses a deft shorthand that lets her get right to the heart of the matter. And it is the heart that ultimately is the object of her obsession.” —Chicago Sun-Times.
“A touching and beautifully crafted piece of Chicago theater. I’d argue that Fairey’s work here has some notable similarities to the great Chicago North Side writing tradition from
Sexual Perversity in Chicago to
Superior Donuts. But Fairey also is a kinder, gentler writer with a lean and wholly unforced style that only emphasizes the pain, sadness and fortitude of her middle-class characters.” —Chicago Tribune.
