The Young Man From Atlanta

The Young Man From Atlanta
Written by	Horton Foote
Date premiered	January 27, 1995
Place premiered	Signature Theatre New York City
Subject	Two parents attempt to cope with the death of their only son
Genre	Drama
Setting	Spring, 1950. Houston, Texas.

The Young Man From Atlanta is a drama written by American dramatist Horton Foote first produced Off-Broadway by the Signature Theatre in January 1995. Foote received the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This was one of four Foote plays the group produced during its 1994/1995 season.

In this play Foote revived characters which had been in his The Orphans' Home Cycle of nine plays. Will Kidder — 64 years old in this play — was in his early twenties in Lily Dale, and approaching middle age in Cousins. Sixty-year-old Lily Dale Kidder was introduced in Roots in a Parched Ground as a ten-year-old, and was portrayed in subsequent life stages in Lily Dale and Cousins. Her stepfather, 72-year-old Pete Davenport, first appears at age thirty in Roots in a Parched Ground. According to the playwright, he thought he was done with these characters after Cousins, but in the early 1990s found himself thinking about them again and started work on this play.

In 1950, Will Kidder, age 64, is at his office at the Sunshine Southern Wholesale Grocery, where he has worked since his early 20's. He and his wife Lily Dale have just moved into their new house in Houston and, in Will's words, "There's no finer house in Houston." He was poor as a child and had a successful career. However, Will is fired.

Will talks about his only son, Bill, who had moved to Atlanta. Bill drowned six months ago, and Will suspects Bill actually committed suicide. Lily Dale refuses to consider that he committed suicide, instead believing that his death was an accident. Bill's roommate, Randy Carter, the "Young Man from Atlanta", had been trying to see Will, who believes that all he wants is money. Will learns that Bill had given Randy money, but eventually accepts that he knew Bill and "that's the only Bill I care to know about."

The Young Man from Atlanta opened Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre on January 27, 1995 and closed on February 26, 1995. Directed by Peter Masterson, the cast featured Ralph Waite as Will Kidder, Carlin Glynn as Lily Dale and James Pritchett as Pete Davenport. The production won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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