THE STORY: Concerns the cold war between a housewife (Clara) and the father-in-law she has been trying to dislodge ever since she married: a tough, asthmatic old wreck combining all the pride and cunning of his age with the simplicity of a baby. His son, Glenn, is tossed helplessly from one loyalty to another, and Clara has grown desperate enough for anything—even an attempted love affair with another man—to release her from this burden. When Pop finally gives up the fight to remain in his son’s home, it is left to his granddaughter, Susan, to see with the compassion that only youth can feel for age, the true tragedy of his going.
“It is the closest thing to a new classical tragedy that I have seen in twenty years of dramatic criticism.” —The Times (London).
“One will indeed find new plays that are so provocative, for the stuff of which THE WOODEN DISH is made of touches all families and into the fabric the author has threaded some delicate, homespun humor that adds tenderness and warmth.” —Cleveland Press.
“I put it top! THE WOODEN DISH at the Phoenix Theatre is the most beautifully done and certainly the most exciting play in London now.” —The Daily Express (London).
