Orphans: A Play

A Best Revival Tony Award-nominated play starring Alec Baldwin. "A briskly entertaining, deeply affecting play. Darkly funny and moving."—USA Today

In a run-down house in North Philadelphia live two orphan brothers: the reclusive, sensitive Philip, sealed off in a world of StarKist tuna and Errol Flynn movies, and Treat, a violent pickpocket and thief. Into this ferocious and funny realm enters Harold, a mysterious, wealthy, middle-aged man who is kidnapped by Treat, but who soon turns the tables on the two brothers, changing forever the delicate power balance of their relationship. Both hilarious and heartbreaking, Orphans is a story of the universal love of a father for his son, and a son's need to live his own life.

Orphans is an international theatrical phenomenon and has been produced in almost every country in the world. It premiered in 1983 at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, was subsequently produced by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, off-Broadway at the Westside Arts Theatre and in London, and was adapted for film, starring Albert Finney as Harold. The 2013 production marked the play's first Broadway presentation and inspired Alec Baldwin to say, "I have dreamed, for a long time, of doing this play with this director."

"Orphans has enduring appeal, its powerful theme of fathers and sons searching each other out. Alec Baldwin mines the vein of tenderness that lies deep in the play."—Variety

"Wickedly funny one minute and powerfully emotional the next. Kessler uses humor as a subversive force, making the shift into despair a visceral gut punch."—The Hollywood Reporter

"Keeps you transfixed."—New York Daily News

© 2013 Grove Press (Ebook): 9780802193117

Release date

Ebook: April 22, 2013