From Artistic Director Charles Newell
Every year, Court Theatre undergoes lengthy and robust conversation before we come to a decision about which five plays will make up our next season. Extensive research and artistic debate are integral to this process, but equally important are the roles of providence, instinct, and the unsolicited coincidences of art and life. In the case of The Year of Magical Thinking, the impetus came in the form of an unexpected tragedy: the passing of my mother, Martha Paine Newell. In the turmoil of my grief I encountered Joan Didion’s book, an account of the bewildering year that followed the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne. Didion’s story, told with humor, grace, and unflinching honesty, helped me make sense of my own grieving process and come to terms with such impossible loss.
When I discovered that Joan Didion had adapted her book into a play for one actor, I decided to take a risk and direct The Year of Magical Thinking for Court Theatre. Without a doubt, it is the most personal project I’ve undertaken in my sixteen years here, and I would not have dared to attempt it without the collaboration of Mary Beth Fisher.
It is my hope that Court’s production of The Year of Magical Thinking will stir your own memories of loved ones, present and past, and lead you to the same vistas of self-knowledge that it has for me. I would not be Artistic Director of Court Theatre today if not for the unfailing support of my mother, and it is to her memory that I dedicate this production.
–Charlie Newell
