The second Script in Hand of the 2024 season continues on with The Trip to Bountiful
Carrie Watts dreams of escape from the bustling city and of a return to simpler times in her beloved Bountiful, Texas. She sets out on a risky journey to her beloved hometown, with her family in hot pursuit. Along the way, she encounters kindness and compassion … and makes a remarkable discovery about the true meaning of home.
Michael Wilson, the foremost interpreter of Horton Foote’s work, directs. This classic American drama is a touching portrait of family, what we hold onto and what we leave behind.
What an honor to have Michael Wilson bring THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL back home to the Playhouse for our Script In Hand series. First written as a television play, Horton Foote’s 1953 masterpiece received its world premiere stage production at the Westport Country Playhouse before moving to Broadway and subsequently across the globe. Michael’s understanding of this play is deeply felt, as evidenced by the celebrated Broadway revival and television film versions which he directed. It is a thrill to host him at the Playhouse to re-investigate a work he knows so intimately and loves with such passion."
Mark Shanahan, Script in Hand curatorMEET THE CAST
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM
*member of Actors’ Equity Association
GALLERY
“THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL is about the myth of an idea called home. Mr. Foote creates characters, nearly all of whom come from the same stretch of provincial Texas, who long to believe in the reality of real estate, that a house is a fortress and an anchor in a world of threatening flux. But this bleakly sentimental playwright is as merciless as he is compassionate. Home is only an illusion for his people, and everyone is ultimately an orphan, even when surrounded by family.”
-THE NEW YORK TIMES
“If there’s any such thing as a bulletproof play, The Trip to Bountiful may be it. Horton Foote’s elegiac study in the diminution of old age … is a sure-fire crowd pleaser.”
-LOS ANGELES TIMES
“I’ve never been more deeply moved by a theatrical production of any kind.”
-WALL STREET JOURNAL
“…the rarest of theater experiences, an evening which will prove an indelible memory…Horton Foote has done, and done beautifully, the one thing it is important for a playwright to do. That is, provide the disciplined material for expert actors to completely capture an audience and hold it through the evening.”
-NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM
ABOUT SCRIPT IN HAND PLAYREADINGS
Every Script in Hand playreading is a brand new experience.
At a Script in Hand playreading, there’s nothing between you and the actors on stage. These readings bring actors who’ve just met — or who’ve known each other for years — together for one day to rehearse and perform a play on a bare stage, with simple lighting — and you. The audience is in charge of conjuring the set, costumes, and atmosphere — or nothing at all. Actors, audience, and the director come together to create a special, one-night-only experience.
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MEET THE CURATOR
THANK YOU
The 2024 Script in Hand Playreading Series is supported by Joyce Hergenhan and the White Barn program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.
All titles, dates, and artists are subject to change.
directed by Michael Wilson
English 
Spanish