Primary Stages Artistic Director Talks About Theater and the Late Great A.R. Gurney

Primary Stages is another of the hidden assets of New York's theater scene. Along with other off-Broadway companies, like Irish Rep, New York Theatre Workshop, the Flea and the Atlantic theaters, it comprises the real lifeline of serious theater in New York City. Since 1984, Primary Stages has been producing plays emerging and veteran playwrights that have fed Broadway and beyond. The roster of playwrights who have had their work done is impressive. David Ives, Theresa Rebeck, Donald Margulies and Terrence McNally are just a few of the theatrical brand names they have produced.

My personal favorites include Horton Foote, whose reputation in the past 30 years or so has risen to the top tier of American playwrights. His Dividing the Estate, was produced by Primary Stages in 2009; it ultimately moved to Broadway and was nominated for a Tony award. And last year Primary Stages presented a touching revival of production of The Roads to Home.

And then there is the late A.R. "Pete" Gurney, an underrated playwright whose last work Final Follies, a trio of one-act plays, has gotten a charming production at the Cherry Lane Theater. His relationship with Primary Stages goes back 16 years. While Gurney's career began off-off-Broadway in the early 1960s, he broke out with the 1981 production of his play The Dining Room. He wrote extensively but not exclusively of his native Buffalo, New York. His plays are deceptively simple—sometimes actors just stand and read from scripts, such as Love Letters which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1990—something that makes them very popular and easy to produce; and they are almost always moving. The one-act play "Final Follies," was the last play Gurney finished before he died in 2017.

Primary Stages Artistic Director Andrew Leynse spoke with Newsweek about his theater and its relationship with Gurney.

What do you see as a Primary Stages play?

At Primary Stages our mission and vision is on the playwright. So each writer that we produce has a unique voice and vision for their plays and what they want to write about. What excites us is that unique voice.

What is the mission statement of Primary Stages?

Primary Stages is an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company dedicated to inspiring, supporting, and sharing the art of playwriting. We operate on the strongly held belief that the future of American theater relies on nurturing playwrights and giving them the artistic support needed to create new work.

Tell me about Primary Stages's relationship with A.R. Gurney? How did it come about and how did this evening come together?

Our collaboration with A.R. "Pete" Gurney began when we were at our original home on West 45th Street. Casey Childs, Founder, had just finished producing Pete's Far East for WNET/Channel Thirteen and Pete gave him The Fourth Wall to produce. Pete thought it would be the perfect play for 2001 with its biting humor and political edge. David Saint signed on to direct and thus began our fruitful collaboration with Pete. Over the years we've gone on to produce six of Gurney's premieres including Strictly Academic, Buffalo Gal, Indian Blood, Black Tie and now Final Follies. Pete often told me how much he loved to be in an intimate theater and how his plays would resonate with audiences in ways that were different from large houses. Perhaps the intimacy of off-Broadway allowed Pete to discover the most from his plays. There he could exercise his rebellious side and stir things up and feel his audiences react.

Would you say these Final Follies plays are typical of Gurney?

These plays are different. Perhaps the most typical Gurney is The Love Course. The evening is a triptych of his work. Starting with "Final Follies" which Pete prophetically entitled, then "The Rape of Bunny Stuntz" which was one of Pete's earlier plays that was originally performed right here at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and "The Love Course" which he wrote in the early '70s. All three of the plays celebrate Pete's desire to explore a more complex side of his characters. Though Pete's humor constantly lifts these plays, there is a darker side to what he is exploring. Issues of sexual repression and identity challenging ones roots and culture are constantly at the forefront.

How did this production Final Follies come about?

Right before Pete passed, he had just finished "Final Follies" and spoke to his agent Jonathan Lomma about sending it to us. Thrilled to see a new piece of writing from Pete, we were honored to bring it to the stage with David Saint at the helm. Because "Final Follies" is a one-act we decided to pair it with two of his other plays that speak to Pete's vision and, perhaps, more to his downtown roots where he first began writing plays.

How final is this? Are there more manuscripts Gurney left behind that you know of?
Though I have not seen them I'm sure there are several other plays that have not seen the light of day yet—Pete was a prolific writer!

When new plays are done there is typically a lot of rewriting that goes on once the actors get on their feet. Who does that in a case like this?

We missed Pete in the room! It's hard to present any new play without your playwright. We did have permission to edit some of the text. What helped is having David Saint who has directed a body of his work and was very close with Pete, so he could guide that process.

Gurney has been cited for his depiction of WASPy Buffalo, yet his plays seem to be produced all over, why do you think that is so?

Pete's beloved by audiences. His stories speak to audiences in very personal ways. And there is always someone you can connect to. Also Pete always knew how to get a laugh!

Are his Primary Stages plays differently from say his Flea plays?

Somewhat, though I that many of the plays he did at the Flea could have been done at Primary Stages. He liked the intimate theater and also the artists of the next generation.

What is up next for Primary Stages?

Downstairs by Theresa Rebeck directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt with Tyne Daly, Tim Daly and John Procaccino.

Downstairs by Theresa Rebeck starts performances at the Cherry Lane Theater on November 7. For more information go to PrimaryStages.org.