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Painting Churches: A Play in Two Acts
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 artistic celebrity herself and hopes, by painting her parents, to come to terms with them and they with her. Mags triumphs in the end as Fanny and Gardner actually step through the frame and become a work of art ineffable and timeless.
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 artistic celebrity herself and hopes, by painting her parents, to come to terms with them and they with her. Mags triumphs in the end as Fanny and Gardner actually step through the frame and become a work of art ineffable and timeless.
94 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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116 people want to read
About the author
Tina Howe
47 books10 followersTina Howe (November 21, 1937 – August 28, 2023) was an American playwright.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 19, 2025
I remember wishing the moment would hold forever; that we could be fixed there, laughing and iridescent ... Then I got panicky because I knew it would pass; that it was passing already.
Painting Churches ~~~ Tina Howe
Painting Churches was Tina Howe breakthrough play, winning much praise and nearly a Pulitzer for the way it explored dueling themes ~~ the problems of dementia and a grown daughters having to put aside conflicting feelings about a difficult mother to see the devotion and strength beneath her rigidity. Howe built her story around Fanny and Gardner Church's final days in Boston's Beacon Hill area. The parents' lives are on a falling apart — financially and in terms of Gardner's career as a poet laureate who once won a Pulitzer-Prize, and was praised by the likes of Robert Frost no less. On the other hand, Mags' career as an artist is taking off as her fame grows. Mags can't feel truly successful without her parents approval, and Fanny isn't quite as thrilled about the move as she seems to be.
Sadly, 36 years later, Howe's play is terribly dated. Alzheimer's id not all that funny, seeing an elderly man wetting himself on stage, spitting crackers while he talks, or walking around with his zipper down is not funny. As for Mags, she is so stuck in the past, she's never been able to grow up or move on. A year of therapy would have been more beneficial than her obsession with confronting her mother. Of the three, Fanny fairs the best, but even she can't seem to deal with the reality of what lies ahead.
Today, Painting Churches fairs far better as a curiosity piece of 80's theatre, then an insightful piece of theatre.
Painting Churches ~~~ Tina Howe
Painting Churches was Tina Howe breakthrough play, winning much praise and nearly a Pulitzer for the way it explored dueling themes ~~ the problems of dementia and a grown daughters having to put aside conflicting feelings about a difficult mother to see the devotion and strength beneath her rigidity. Howe built her story around Fanny and Gardner Church's final days in Boston's Beacon Hill area. The parents' lives are on a falling apart — financially and in terms of Gardner's career as a poet laureate who once won a Pulitzer-Prize, and was praised by the likes of Robert Frost no less. On the other hand, Mags' career as an artist is taking off as her fame grows. Mags can't feel truly successful without her parents approval, and Fanny isn't quite as thrilled about the move as she seems to be.
Sadly, 36 years later, Howe's play is terribly dated. Alzheimer's id not all that funny, seeing an elderly man wetting himself on stage, spitting crackers while he talks, or walking around with his zipper down is not funny. As for Mags, she is so stuck in the past, she's never been able to grow up or move on. A year of therapy would have been more beneficial than her obsession with confronting her mother. Of the three, Fanny fairs the best, but even she can't seem to deal with the reality of what lies ahead.
Today, Painting Churches fairs far better as a curiosity piece of 80's theatre, then an insightful piece of theatre.
October 14, 2008
Great play for a young woman 25-35. A small cast (3 people). Hillarous and strikingly sad to see the decline of your parent's mental capasities.
May 23, 2014
One of two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1984, Painting Churches centers on an older couple and their adult daughter, a well-respected artist. The family is old money New England, and the play centers on the couple as they pack to downsize to a smaller home. The subplot revolves around their daughter painting their portrait (side note: Dramatic license aside, who thinks “hey, people moving and packing is the perfect time to paint their portrait and force them to stand still for hours at a time?).
I’ve now read both finalists and the winner for the 1984 prize, and I can comfortably say that my opinions differ drastically from the American theatre world of the 1980s, because none of these plays struck me as award worthy.
But if I had to pick one, Painting Churches is the best of the bunch. Nothing much happens in Painting Churches, but I could see the potential for actors to do a lot with the characters. It also reminded me of The Subject Was Roses, an earlier Pulitzer Prize winner that centered on older parents and their grown, only child. Quasi-recommended.
I’ve now read both finalists and the winner for the 1984 prize, and I can comfortably say that my opinions differ drastically from the American theatre world of the 1980s, because none of these plays struck me as award worthy.
But if I had to pick one, Painting Churches is the best of the bunch. Nothing much happens in Painting Churches, but I could see the potential for actors to do a lot with the characters. It also reminded me of The Subject Was Roses, an earlier Pulitzer Prize winner that centered on older parents and their grown, only child. Quasi-recommended.
December 10, 2013
Didn't do much
September 4, 2021
Tina Howe's Obie winner from the 1980s tells the story of the Church family, aging married couple Fanny and Gardner and their grown daughter Margaret (Mags). The elderly couple is moving out of their Boston home to live full-time in their summer cottage, and Mags has come to help them pack and to paint their portrait--- she is an up and coming artist.
While Howe creates characters with some meat, and deals with the topic of dementia in a manner that seems bold for its time, some of the dialogue feels stilted. Still, one could almost see this play as precursor to such pieces as "Proof".
Would be interested in seeing it staged.
While Howe creates characters with some meat, and deals with the topic of dementia in a manner that seems bold for its time, some of the dialogue feels stilted. Still, one could almost see this play as precursor to such pieces as "Proof".
Would be interested in seeing it staged.
February 28, 2023
What a heart-warming story - well, after everything else. There's a case to be made as to whether that last scene was genuine or forced, perhaps it doesn't matter either way as it on its own was a perfect closer to such a tumultuous, funny and heartbreaking first few parts.
May 6, 2017
Sweet. Funny. Illustrative.
July 8, 2022
It’s such an interesting play. One of Mags monologues I love and definitely want to do. The way it’s written is brilliant
August 15, 2016
Just read this because I'm doing a monologue from it and hoping to heaven that it isn't as overused now as it once was.
I think the characters here are interesting. We almost have a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf-esque marriage here, with the verbal abuse and all. But, unlike in that show, Fanny lobs hits over the net and Gardner sort of lets them sit there.
I just wish that there was more to this show. I don't feel like there was really a main story or resolution as much as we just got a snapshot into these people's lives. And it's okay when I think about it like that, but that's not really what I look for in plays. If that was the goal of this play, then 5 out of 5. But for being a complete tale that really roused emotion in me and had a full arc, this was a 3 out of 5.
Interesting characters, lacking story and plot. Kind of like Tennessee Williams, but less so, as this felt short and less invasive.
I think the characters here are interesting. We almost have a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf-esque marriage here, with the verbal abuse and all. But, unlike in that show, Fanny lobs hits over the net and Gardner sort of lets them sit there.
I just wish that there was more to this show. I don't feel like there was really a main story or resolution as much as we just got a snapshot into these people's lives. And it's okay when I think about it like that, but that's not really what I look for in plays. If that was the goal of this play, then 5 out of 5. But for being a complete tale that really roused emotion in me and had a full arc, this was a 3 out of 5.
Interesting characters, lacking story and plot. Kind of like Tennessee Williams, but less so, as this felt short and less invasive.
August 20, 2007
This is one of the plays I am considering for the direction of my full-length play in Spring 2008. It is simply the story of a girl who returns home to paint a portrait of her parents. A modern-day creation of American Gothic, so to speak. Entertaining and riveting, especially if you like the visual arts and think your parents are partially senile or at least animal-like.
August 4, 2015
Strong characters, and a strong depiction of having to grow up and watch your parents age. Shows the humanity and realness experienced looking back on a not-so-perfect childhood. There are beautiful moments of truth that I think everyone can identify with.
September 5, 2007
Read in contemporary drama with Prof Nouryeh. Loved it--loved her as a prof!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews