I didn ’ t know Irene personally when I called to ask her about doing a season at Signature , but I quickly learned that she is a true character – she is both eccentric and incredibly grounded .
small . It ’ s not the right size . We said five-foot .” And he ’ s eyeballing this . I said , “ Edward , it ’ s five feet ! We built it ourselves I guarantee .” He says , “ It is not five feet .” Somebody ran and got a tape measure and we measured the thing – and the external measurement was five feet , not the inside . I just looked at him and said , “ We ’ ll build it again .” And we did !
When we began Adrienne ’ s season in 1995 , we didn ’ t have a theatre . We had spent our first four years at the Kampo Cultural Center , and when they decided not to use the space as a theatre anymore , we went looking for a new home . Luckily , George C . Wolfe offered us a temporary home at the Public for the next two seasons while we looked for and eventually built what would become the Peter Norton Space . A lot stands out to me from that season in general . I directed Adrienne ’ s play June and Jean in Concert , and that was a production that was a really incredible experience that I value deeply . My wife Joyce played Bette Davis in A Movie Star Has to Star in Black and White , directed by our dear friend Joe Chaikin . And of course , Funnyhouse of a Negro . That play is larger than life , but it is also so intimate . Funnyhouse began Adrienne ’ s season at Signature and it ’ s such an incredible window into her world as a playwright – audiences were with us on the journey after that .
In presenting Irene ’ s plays Mud and Drowning together , those great representations of her work , we were essentially saying that these pieces were connected . Then that became its own puzzle for us to crack : how do we join together these two worlds so that they feel both connected and distinct ? Christine Jones , who has been a longtime friend of both Signature and my own family , did the scenic design . She created this interior space for Mud that literally broke apart and gave way to the world of Drowning . I ’ ll never forget Christine ’ s design of that production . In a lot of ways , I think it spoke to Irene ’ s own body of work , and one piece of writing moving forward into another . In that production , I think there was something in the stars that aligned and created a really special night in the theatre .
( this page ) Dallas Roberts in María Irene Fornés ’ Enter the Night , 2000 ; ( opposite page , top to bottom ) Eisa Davis in Adrienne Kennedy ’ s June and Jean in Concert , 1995 ; Adrienne Kennedy ; Kathleen Butler , Tom Klunis , Edward Albee , and Jim Houghton , 1993 .
S : Why did you want to bring these three plays back to Signature ?
JH : Edward , Irene , and Adrienne are all such pioneers of the Off Broadway movement . Their work has been so influential to so many writers , and to the American dramatic canon . All three of those playwrights are taught in universities all over the world , and these three plays are really hallmarks of their writing . I felt that putting Edward , Irene , and Adrienne together in
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