In Dividing the Estate, the misfits of the Gordon family of Harrison, Texas, gather to parcel out the estate of their matriarch – who is still alive and very much a part of the discussion.
The play premiered off-Broadway in 2007, and the entire cast returns for a Broadway bow at an opportune moment. As if on cue with current events, the Gordons are faced with the effects of taxes and lower property values on their once-signficant financial resourses. As they meet to discuss dividing what's left, the discussions are driven in equal parts by greed, gossip, and long-cherished grievances.
Dividing the Estate was written by Horton Foote, a playwright and screenwriter who won Academy Awards for Tender Mercies and To Kill A Mockingbird. Foote also has been awarded an Emmy and the Pulitzer Prize. He returns here to the small Texas town of Harrison, where he often sets his plays.
Dividing the Estate stars Elizabeth Ashley as Stella Gordon, the head of the Gordon family; Gerald Rainey, as her son; and Hallie Foote, as Stella's greedy, shrew of a daughter (and Horton Foote's real-life, talented actress of a daughter).
The play is directed by Michael Wilson and produced by the Lincoln Center Theater.
- Booth Theatre
- Opening: November 20, 2008
- Closing: January 4, 2009