The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
by Paul Zindel

Name: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
Brand: Paul Zindel
SKU: 9780822203506
Rating: 3.8 (85 reviews)

Broadway

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Cover

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Book Cover — The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Cover

Highlights

Female

105 mins 1970s All Women Role(s) for Teen(s) Interior Set Period Costumes

Awards & Recognition

Drama Critics Circle Obie Award Pulitzer Prize

Winner! 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Winner! 1970 Obie Award, Best American Play Winner! 1970 New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Best American Play

Synopsis

Supporting herself and her two daughters by taking in a decrepit old boarder, acid-tongued Beatrice Hunsdorfer wreaks a petty vengeance on everyone around her.

Her older daughter, Ruth, is a pretty but highly strung girl subject to convulsions, while her younger girl, Tillie, plain and almost pathologically shy, demonstrates an intuitive gift for science.

Encouraged by her teacher, Tillie conducts a botanical experiment, winning a prize at her high school.

Proud but jealous, too filled with her own hurt to accept her daughter's success, Beatrice can only maim when she needs to love and deride when she intends to praise.

Yet, as Tillie's experiment proves, something beautiful and full of promise can emerge from even the most barren, afflicted soil.

Press Reviews

"Let's start with a single, simple word. Power… I don't know of a better [play] of its genre since The Glass Menagerie."
— New York Post

"The play itself is one of the lucky blooms; it survives, and is beautiful."
— New York Times

"Off-Broadway has been gifted with a great human drama."
— New York Daily News

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Tillie Hunsdorfer A quiet and introverted teen, she immerses herself in science.	female	—	A quiet and introverted teen, she immerses herself in science.
Janice Vickery Tillie’s rival at the science fair.	—	—	Tillie’s rival at the science fair.
Nanny An elderly and silent boarder in the Hunsdorfer household.	—	—	An elderly and silent boarder in the Hunsdorfer household.
Ruth Hunsdorfer Tillie’s older sister. A brash but confused adolescent, she suffers from epilepsy.	female	—	Tillie’s older sister. A brash but confused adolescent, she suffers from epilepsy.
Beatrice Hunsdorfer Tillie’s and Ruth’s mother. Self-loathing, cynical and abusive.	female	—	Tillie’s and Ruth’s mother. Self-loathing, cynical and abusive.