Regrets Only

by Paul Rudnick

This comedy of Manhattan manners explores the latest topics in marriage, friendships and squandered riches. The setting: a Park Avenue penthouse. The players: a powerhouse attorney, his deliriously social wife and their closest friend, one of the world s most staggeringly successful fashion designers. Add a daughter s engagement, some major gowns, the president of the United States, and stir.

Genres: Plays

55 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2007

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be lovely if everyone were entitled to retain full human rights despite making horrible decisions, and not just the insanely rich people with lawyers on retainer. Surely the only reason to permit the 1% to hoarde wealth is to amuse the rest of us with their horrible taste?

This play contains lawyers and wealthy people. The lawyers are only a little bit evil, and the comedy isn't unkind. Which is why Rudnick is a better person than most of us, as well as a funnier one.

Library copy

[Martin Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written in 2006, when the play was first produced; perhaps the play has dated since then?

Regrets Only by Paul Rudnick is the fizzy, wise-cracking entertainment you'd expect--a delightfully diverting comedy that is certainly the playwright's best work since Jeffrey. The bonus is that, underneath the glittery name-dropping and catty put-downs, Rudnick has an authentically interesting and surprising story to tell: yes, even the ultra-glamorous and wealthy can be real people, and that's precisely what they are (most of the time) in this aptly-titled play that is as much a meditation on squandered riches as it is a comedy of manners among the upper crust.

The play revolves around Hank Hadley, an enormously famous, well-respected, and successful fashion designer (I've heard that he's modeled on Bill Blass). Hank's longtime partner--he'd never publicly call him a lover; and they never lived together, so companion seems like the wrong term here as well--has recently died, and after months in relative seclusion, he's returning to society, at the home of his best friends, Jack and Tibby McCullough. The McCulloughs are very rich and very social: he's a prominent attorney and she's a fashion plate who lives for parties and benefits. Jack and Hank knew and liked each other long before either met Tibby. Now, Tibby and Hank are devoted best friends and Tibby and Jack are happily married, with Hank acting as Tibby's frequent escort when Jack is too busy or too uninterested to make an appearance at this or that social event. Rudnick delineates the nature of this strong, deep friendship among three grown-ups with great care, intelligence, and complexity.

The relationship among them is severely tested, though, when Jack gets a call, out of the blue, from President George W. Bush. The chief executive wants Jack to help him draft a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Jack is, naturally, flattered and thrilled by this opportunity; but Hank, who has never been politically inclined, has a problem with it, and Tibby finds herself caught in the middle. The McCulloughs' daughter Spencer, who is also a lawyer and has just announced her own impending wedding (for which she wants Hank to design her a gown), tries to help her elders sort through the resulting morass in a scene that's at once very funny and very thought-provoking. Even though it's clear that Rudnick wants us to side with Hank, everybody has a point here: gay marriage--especially viewed in the context of all long-term relationships, sanctioned or not and sexual or not--is not a black-and-white issue, and that's a good deal of Rudnick's point here.

The play's second act veers off into somewhat silly territory for a while, which is unfortunate: on the eve of Spencer's wedding, Hank decides to lead his gay brethren and sisteren in a one-day strike that sabotages the event. It would have been better if Rudnick had transcended stereotypes here, for the jokes are all about Broadway shows having to shut down (except for a lone Mamet play) and all the hair dressers and florists being unavailable. The play would be subtler and smarter if construction workers and secretaries and truck drivers and what-have-you also were part of the boycott. (The boycott idea is not a new one; I read about it in Richard Stevenson's On the Other Hand, Death not too long ago.)

But Rudnick pulls it back together fairly neatly to give the play a reasonably sharp and satisfying ending. For dipping his toes as much as he does in such controversial waters--and for doing so with maturity and forthrightness--the playwright deserves our admiration.

[Evan James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing was good, but it's a little pandering and doesn't have as much heart as I wanted. A little too stereotypical in places.

[Emily Ann Meagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I mean, if you want to kill something beautiful, just add crab cakes and God.”

[Janine Corman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a funny take on the issue of Gay Marriage. I loved the dialogue and loved the characters (especially Hank Hadley and Tibby's mother, Marietta). I would love to direct this play, but only if I had a ridiculous budget to spend on costumes and set dressing.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny and clever commentary on social class and marriage!

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like the blend of serious issues and frivolous humor. The characters were very flat and superficial, and I just didn't care about any of them.