Richard Nelson’s Women of a Certain Age, the third and final play of his trilogy about this year’s presidential election, opened on Election Day, but did not include the election's outcome.
The play is the third and final installment in his three-play cycle, The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family, which has chronicled the U.S. election on The Public Theater’s LuEsther Theater stage since the first play, Hungry, began performances in February.
Nelson had been writing fairly close to real time, and therefore the play that opened November 8 could not have included the news that Donald J. Trump won the election. A production spokesperson said there are no plans to rewrite the ending. “The plays are finalized since the show opened last night. No additions will be added.”
The three works, written and directed by Nelson, track the lives of a family throughout the current presidential election year. The complete cast for all three plays is made up of Meg Gibson (Karin Gabriel), Lynn Hawley (Hannah Gabriel), Roberta Maxwell (Patricia Gabriel), Maryann Plunkett (Mary Gabriel), Jay O. Sanders (George Gabriel), and Amy Warren (Joyce Gabriel).
Performances of Women of a Certain Age began November 4 and are set to play through December 4. All three plays will run in repertory December 10, 11, 14, 17, and 18.
Tony Award-winning playwright and director Nelson returns to the Public following his 2013 play cycle The Apple Family Plays, which were original premieres tethered to specific moments in American politics; Nelson would update the script to reflect recent developments. In the same spirit, The Gabriels cycle features a core acting company and unfolds in real time over a couple of hours. The second play, What Did You Expect?, debuted in September.
All three plays in The Gabriels feature scenic design by Susan Hilferty and Jason Ardizzone-West; costume design by Susan Hilferty; lighting design by Jennifer Tipton; and sound design by Scott Lehrer and Will Pickens.
Tickets for the finale and marathon performances are available by calling (212) 967-7555 or visiting PublicTheater.org. The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette St., Astor Place.
