The Year of Magical Thinking is a dramatic and moving one-person show adaptation of Joan Didion’s autobiographical account of the year in her life following the death of her husband, John Dunne. Adapted by Didion from her own book, the narrative revisits the tragic events of the day her husband collapsed on the way home from a hospital visit to the couple’s daughter, Quintana, in 2003. The story is immediately captivating and remains involving, Didion provides not only a harrowingly honest and intimate portrayal of emotional suffering but an intelligent and thought-provoking examination of the nature of grief and its physiological implications. Tickets for The Year of Magical Thinking will take you on an exceptional journey of personal story-telling and theatrical drama.
Tony Award-winner Vanessa Redgrave (Long Day’s Journey Into Night) will star alone as Joan Didion in the production, which was conceived and produced by Scott Rudin (The History Boys) and is directed by David Hare (The Vertical Hour). The play is the result of close and ongoing collaboration between Joan Didion and the show’s producers, an intimacy which is reflected in that Redgrave was the only actor to be considered for the role. The stunning one-person show is brought to life by the experience of award-winning set designer Bob Crowley (The History Boys), lighting director Jean Kalman (Festen) and costume designer Ann Roth (Butley).
Joan Didion is a prolific and successful author of both fiction and non-fiction, and in partnership with her husband is the author of many screenplays. The Year of Magical Thinking, published in 2005, became an instant success and went on to earn Didion a National Book Award that year. The personal involvement of Didion in the creation of the theater production creates a uniquely intimate and emotionally engaging piece that speaks to the audience of common themes of loss in a truly individual style. This one-of-a-kind performance can be seen only with tickets to The Year of Magical Thinking.