Toys in the Attic

by Lillian Hellman

Book Overview

THE STORY: Two sisters living together in a small southern town dream of touring Europe one day--but their plans are continually thwarted by the need to bail their ne'er-do-well brother out of a series of misfortunes. They are surprised then, and ev

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822211637
• ISBN13: 9780822211631
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Dramatists Play Service
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.2" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Her abiding work

The story of the Berniers family was Lillia Hellman's final full-length play for the stage (well, there was am insipid adaptation called "My Mother, My Father, and Me") and it was her best. The play has great parts, including a dissolute, nearly middle-aged leading man, Julian, back from hell raising to reunite with his sisters, who are both drawn to him (and his new wife) and repelled by them and the lifestyle they represent.The local color (New Orleans) is beautifully done and the music, written to Hellman's lyrics by the great Marc Blitzstein, is awesome, should be revived often. OR, you could use the AEROSMITH album as your mental soundtrack as you read along in this play. There's a film of this, too, with Dean Martin, that (surprise!) isn't half bad either.If you like sagas of family life, this might be the very play for you. Be warned, unless carefully cast, you might produce this play with actors whom your audience will not believe are siblings. This has sunk some amateur productions of "Toys in the Attic."