TRYING by Joanna McClelland Glass to Reopen Palm Beach Dramaworks This Month

In 1967, Joanna McClelland Glass was an aspiring writer living with her husband and three small children in Washington, DC, when she went to work for Francis Biddle, who served as US attorney general (1941-1945) under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Biddle, then 81 and infirm, was from a prominent, patrician Philadelphia family. Glass was a half century younger and from the Canadian prairie. “We spent our months together ‘trying' to negotiate and span our enormous differences of youth and age, of class and culture,” Glass wrote in an introduction to Trying, which concludes Palm Beach Dramaworks' 2023-24 season.

Trying opens on May 24 (8pm) and continues through June 9, with specially priced previews on June 7 and 8 (7:30pm). Producing Artistic Director William Hayes directs. 

Trying is PBD's first revival. It's a tender yet unsentimental portrait of two disparate people navigating their vast differences to form a bond of mutual admiration, consideration, and respect. The play was initially done here during the 2006-07 season, and Hayes recently contemplated why he was drawn to staging it once again. “Though it didn't consciously dawn on me when I put together the 2023-24 season, in retrospect I believe I was drawn to Trying because it's about something that seems to be a lost skill these days: the art of communication,” he said.

Popular PBD veteran Dennis Creaghan portrays Biddle, and Kelly McCready makes her PBD debut as Sarah Schorr, Glass's alter ego. Scenic design is by Bert Scott, costume design is by Brian O'Keefe, lighting design is by Addie Pawlick, and sound design is by Roger Arnold. David A. Hyland is the assistant director.      

As she related in her introduction to Trying, Glass first wrote about her experience working with Biddle in 1970, in the form of a one-act play. She sent it to Herbert Berghof, the renowned acting teacher, actor, and director who had produced her first play a year earlier at his HB Theatre in Greenwich Village. He “insisted” she send the play to his friend, the legendary Alfred Lunt. One day, she received a call from Lunt, who told her he was very interested in doing the play but couldn't, “because I'm going blind and I bump into things.” She didn't return to the material again until 2000. 

Trying was originally produced at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago in March, 2004, featuring Fritz Weaver and Kati Brazda. They also appeared in the play's Off-Broadway premiere seven months later, at The Promenade Theatre. It has since become Glass' most performed play.

Joanna McClelland Glass was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1936. Her plays have been produced in regional theatres around the United States and Canada, on Broadway and Off-Broadway, as well as in England, Ireland, Australia, and Germany. In addition to Trying, her plays include Canadian Gothic and American Modern, two one-acts originally produced by Manhattan Theatre Club in 1972; Artichoke (1974), starring Collen Dewhurst, which premiered at Long Wharf Theatre; To Grandmother's House We Go (1980), starring Eva Le Gallienne, first presented at The Alley Theatre in Houston in 1980 before moving to Broadway; Play Memory (1983), directed by Harold Prince, first at the McCarter Theatre and subsequently on Broadway, where it received a 1984 Tony Award nomination despite a very brief run; as well as Yesteryear (1989), If We Are Women (1993), Palmer Park (2008), and Mrs. Dexter and Her Daily (2010). Glass is also the author of two novels, Reflections of a Mountain Summer and Woman Wanted. She is the recipient of a Rockefeller grant, an NEA grant, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.   

Palm Beach Dramaworks is a professional, nonprofit theatre company founded in 2000 and located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach. Each season, the award-winning company produces five mainstage shows and offers a wide variety of programs for students at the theatre and in schools. Committed to fostering the future of theatre, PBD has become a hub for playwrights in Florida and around the country to nurture their work through initiatives including The Dramaworkshop and the new Plays Festival. PBD is a member of Theatre Communications Group, Florida Professional Theatres Association, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, and NNPN. www.palmbeachdramaworks.com

Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, and Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Matinee performances are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2pm. Post-performance discussions follow Wednesday and Thursday matinees.

Tickets for all performances are $89, except for opening night ($104) and previews ($69). Student tickets are available for $15 with a valid K-12 or university/college ID, and anyone under 40 pays $40 (no additional fees) with a photo ID. Tickets for educators are half price with proper ID (other restrictions apply). Group rates for 10 or more and subscription packages for four or five plays are also available. Tickets can be purchased through the box office, in person or by phone (561.514.4042 ext 2), and online 24 hours a day at palmbeachdramaworks.org.     

The Don & Ann Brown Theatre is located in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, at 201 Clematis Street. For ticket information contact the box office at (561) 514-4042, or visit www.palmbeachdramaworks.org.

Photo credit: Tim Stepien 

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