Richard Greenberg Revises Text of THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES Following Boston Bombings

The New York Times Arts Beat Blog reports that playwright Richard Greenberg has "tweaked" several lines from his newest play The Assembled Parties which opened Wednesday evening at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater.

The revisions, made just prior to the show's opening, were made out of respect to the victims of the recent bombings which occured at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. According to the report, the deleted lines were "spoken in passing and have no bearing on the play's plot."

THE ASSEMBLED PARTIES is directed by Manhattan Theatre Club artistic director Lynne Meadow,and stars Jessica Hecht, Jeremy Shamos and Judith Light. The play follows The Bascovs, an Upper West Side Jewish family in 1980. In the story, when a houseguest joins the holiday festivities for the first time he unwittingly - or perhaps by design - insinuates himself into the family drama. Twenty years later, as 2001 approaches, the Bascovs' seemingly picture-perfect life may be about to crumble.

The excised lines were spoken during Act One of the play by Mr. Shamos's character, Jeff. When a family member asks his opinion of Boston he replies, "There is something wrong with Boston, isn't there?" Later in the act he mentions a student who "attempted to build a bomb as an extra-credit project."

"The Assembled Parties," which runs through June 2, has received positive reviews across the board. Mr. Greenberg's "Take Me Out," won the Tony Award for best play in 2003.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus