Visiting Edna and Good for Otto
Two Plays
David Rabe
- Two
- plays
- exploring
- the
- struggle
- of
- mental
- illness
- by
- the
- Tony
- Award–winning
- “giant
- of
- American
- theater”
- and
- author
- of
- Hurlyburly
- (Chicago
- Tribune).Good
- for
- Otto,
- which
- premiered
- in
- October
- 2015
- at
- the
- Gift
- Theatre
- in
- Chicago,
- is
- a
- “sprawling
- drama
- of
- mental
- illness”
- in
- which
- “Mr.
- Rabe
- digs
- into
- his
- subject
- with
- a
- depth
- that
- almost
- feels
- bottomless.”
- Drawing
- on
- material
- from
- Undoing
- Depression
- by
- psychotherapist
- Richard
- O’Connor,
- it
- explores
- the
- lives
- of
- a
- therapist
- and
- his
- many
- patients,
- all
- trying
- to
- navigate
- personal
- trauma
- (Charles
- Isherwood,
- The
- New
- York
- Times).Visiting
- Edna,
- which
- premiered
- in
- September
- 2016
- at
- the
- Steppenwolf
- Theatre
- in
- Chicago,
- is
- a
- drama
- of
- “deeply
- searing
- power”
- about
- the
- bond
- between
- mother
- and
- son.
- As
- Edna
- faces
- a
- short
- future
- plagued
- by
- her
- many
- illnesses—and
- a
- cancer
- that
- looms
- so
- large
- it
- becomes
- another
- character—she
- and
- her
- adult
- son
- struggle
- to
- communicate
- about
- their
- shared
- past
- as
- they
- contemplate
- the
- future
- (Variety).Taken
- together,
- the
- plays
- offer
- a
- satisfying
- glimpse
- into
- “Rabe’s
- theatrical
- universe
- .
- .
- .
- at
- once
- vivid
- and
- mysterious,
- a
- pageant
- and
- a
- puzzle”
- of
- contemporary
- American
- life
- (John
- Lahr,
- The
- New
- Yorker).“Many
- would
- list
- [Rabe]
- among
- the
- very
- greatest
- of
- living
- playwrights.”
- —Chris
- Jones,
- Chicago Tribune
