A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Painting Churches

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  2w, 1m

Tina Howe

Finalist! 1984 Pulitzer Prize in Drama

"Beautifully written. . . . A theatrical family portrait that has the shimmer and depth of Renoir portraits." - The New York Times

Painting Churches

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 1m
  • Suggested Use
    • UIL Approved
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Senior
Accolades
Accolades
  • Finalist! 1984 Pulitzer Prize in Drama

Details

Summary
Gardner and Fanny Church are preparing to move out of their Beacon Hill house to their summer cottage on Cape Cod. Gardner, once a famous poet, now is retired. He slips in and out of senility as his wife Fanny valiantly tries to keep them both afloat. They have asked their daughter, Mags, to come home and help them move. Mags agrees, for she hopes as well to finally paint their portrait. She is now on the verge of artistic celebrity herself and hopes, by painting her parents, to come to terms with them and they with her. Mags triumphs in the end as Fanny and Gardner actually step through the frame and become a work of art ineffable and timeless.
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"Beautifully written. . . . A theatrical family portrait that has the shimmer and depth of Renoir portraits." - The New York Times

"A radiant, loving and zestfully humorous play . . . distinctly Chekhovian. Howe captures the same edgy surface of false hilarity, the same unutterable sadness beneath it, and the indomitable valor beneath both." - Time

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Authors

Tina Howe

Tina Howe

Tina Howe (1937-2023) was a prolific and influential American playwright. Her most produced plays include Birth and After Birth, Museum, The Art of Dining, Painting Churches, Coastal Disturbances, Approaching Zanzibar and Pride’s Crossing. These and other works premiered at t ...

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