Kathleen Chalfant (photo: Ben Jay)
Obie and Drama Desk Award winner Kathleen Chalfant will tour Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking across New York City this fall, performing the one-woman show in living rooms, libraries, and other community spaces across the city.
This Keen Company presentation is the first time Didion’s play has been seen in New York since its premiere on Broadway at the Booth Theatre in 2007. The piece was performed on Broadway by Vanessa Redgrave, who received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Adapted from her best-selling memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking recounts Didion’s journey of loss, perseverance, and ultimately hope, using her signature wit to draw an intimate portrait of the resilience of the human heart.
Keen Company’s artistic director Jonathan Silverstein has conceived a unique theatrical event which brings her story directly to the people. Performances will take place in living rooms in Ditmas Park, Prospect Heights and the Upper West Side, community spaces in Forest Hills and Mott Haven, and many more. The show runs October 19–November 20 with an opening set for November 2. The full schedule and ticket information can be found here.
“I am very excited about sharing Joan Didion’s story across New York City,” said Chalfant. “I’ve been wanting to speak these words ever since I first heard she was adapting her memoir for the stage. I’m also very eager to share this work in the intimate settings we are envisioning for it. Though the story is very specific to Ms. Didion’s life and world, what it talks about is, as she says, something that ‘will happen to you’.”
The creative team for The Year of Magical Thinking includes Jennifer Paar (costume design), Anshuman Bhatia (lighting design), Corinne Woods (line producer), and Arthur Atkinson (stage manager).
