Trip To Bountiful

Goodman Theatre welcomes director Harris Yulin and actor Lois Smith as they team up for The Trip to Bountiful, Horton Foote's beloved 1953 play featuring Hallie Foote and Devon Abner—Foote's eldest daughter and son-in-law, respectively-and Meghan Andrews. The Trip to Bountiful caps the Goodman's landmark 10-week festival honoring Horton Foote, "[one of the] strongest, most individual and most abidingly relevant voices in theater" (The New York Times).

"The Trip to Bountiful is one of Horton's finest works-a story of seemingly ordinary people that is told with heartbreaking and life-affirming delicacy," said Artistic Director Robert Falls. "Revived with exquisite care and insight by Harris Yulin at New York's Signature Theatre last year, the production featured a masterful performance by Lois Smith. I am thrilled to recreate and include this triumphant production for our celebration of this living legend at the Goodman."

The Trip to Bountiful was first written and performed as a live teleplay for The Philco Television Playhouse in 1953, starring Lillian Gish—who would perform the role on Broadway later that year. In 1985, Foote adapted The Trip to Bountiful into an Academy Award-winning film starring Geraldine Page. Set in the late 1940s, The Trip to Bountiful focuses on Mrs. Carrie Watts (Smith), a widow who is suffocatingly unhappy living in a Houston apartment with her grown son Ludie (Abner) and his overbearing wife Jessie Mae (Hallie Foote). Carrie dreams of returning to the tiny town of Bountiful, Texas-where she grew up, and which she left three decades earlier. Undaunted by her family and unafraid of a final grand adventure, Carrie sets out on a journey into her past, seeking solace in the place she once called home.

The Goodman's Horton Foote Festival continues a burgeoning tradition at Goodman Theatre of exploring the work of the most important, influential and moving writers for the stage. The Goodman's festivals have honored playwrights August Wilson (2007), David Mamet (2006), Edward Albee (2005)-and in 2009, Eugene O'Neill.

The Trip to Bountiful will run March 1 - April 6 and tickets $23 to $75 and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or charged by phoning 312.443.3800.