Painting Churches
by Tina Howe

Name: Painting Churches
Brand: Tina Howe
SKU: 9780573619397
Rating: 3.64 (164 reviews)

Painting Churches Book Cover — Painting Churches Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

American Comedy

Awards & Recognition

Pulitzer Prize

Finalist: 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the emotional depth and relatable themes in the play, particularly the interactions between parents and their grown children. Many find the writing and character development strong and engaging, capturing moments of truthfulness and humor throughout the story.

Strong character developmentEmotional and relatable themesHumor and sweetnessBeautifully written monologuesOne review felt it was lacking

Synopsis

Comic drama Characters: 1 male, 2 female Interior Set Gardner and Fanny Church are preparing to move out of their Beacon Hill house to their summer cottage on Cape Cod.

Gardner, once a famous poet, now is retired.

He slips in and out of senility as his wife Fanny valiantly tries to keep them both afloat.

They have asked their daughter, Mags, to come home and help them move.

Mags agrees, for she hopes as well to finally paint their portrait.

She is now on the verge of

ThemesPS3558.O894 P3 1984

Press Reviews

"Beautifully written. . . . A theatrical family portrait that has the shimmer and depth of Renoir portraits."
— The New York Times

"A radiant, loving and zestfully humorous play . . . distinctly Chekhovian. Howe captures the same edgy surface of false hilarity, the same unutterable sadness beneath it, and the indomitable valor beneath both."
— Time

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Gardner Church her husband, an eminent New England poet from a finer family, in his 70s	female	70s	her husband, an eminent New England poet from a finer family, in his 70s
Margaret Church (Mags) their daughter, a painter, in her early 30s	female	30s	their daughter, a painter, in her early 30s
Fanny Church a Bostonian from a fine old family, in her 60s	female	60s	a Bostonian from a fine old family, in her 60s