Silver - The Lyons

Nicky Silvers best play since The Food Chain... Hilariously frank, clear-sighted and compassionate and forgiving... Laughter that rises in close and regular waves. BEN BRANTLEY, NEW YORK TIMESThe Lyons is smart and funny and moving... a deeply affecting portraitentertaining and thought-provoking. JESSE OXFELD, NEW YORK OBSERVER Silvers humor is mordant, dark and rich.

Hes a writer who knows all too well the unsaid hurt that can infect families. JOCELYN NOVECK, ASSOCIATED PRESS Black comedy perfection! Suffice it to say that while Silver is wary of sentimentality or false reconciliation, he deftly shows the ways in which the remaining three Lyons family members reach out for a human connection. Whether they do this with clumsy earnestness or with unapologetic, selfish pragmatism, the playwrights refusal to judge them helps foster our own understanding of these injured and injurious people. DAVID ROONEY, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER A pleasure to be back in Nicky Silvers whirlpool of emotional hunger, despair and unexpected tenderness. LINDA WINER, NEWSDAY Death looms large in Nicky Silvers Broadway play, The Lyons, a caustic and canny comedy about family dysfunction packed with surprises that are alternately hilarious, tragic and absurd. JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ, DAILY NEWS

Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the authors representative: John Buzzetti at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, (212) 903-1166.The publication of The Lyons by Nicky Silver, through TCGs Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution.LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATASilver, Nicky.The Lyons / Nicky Silver. First Edition.pages cmISBN (invalid) 978-1-55936-726-4 (ebook)I. and Mrs. and Mrs.

Jerry Silver, circa 1963.First Edition, December 2012

But its Broadway just the same.Given this turn of events, I have been asked lately what it means to me to have a play on Broadway. I respond, Im not stupid enough to think that it is some clear indication of quality. Quality is everywhere. But being on Broadway changes, if not how I see myself, at least how others see me. It assures one a place at some historical, theatrical dinner table. (Although given my nature, I suspect Ill be seated in the back, next to the kitchen.) In any event, never having dared to dream this dream, its actually more moving to me than I can say.

Its a shock, frankly. And both of my fans are dumbstruck.A little background. When I came to New York, in the mid-seventies, all I wanted was to find my place in the theatrical community. I was young, full of rage and that sense of superiority that can only live inside someone who has yet to accomplish a single thing. I thought of Broadway as a pandering, lowbrow circus. Joseph Papp and Stephen Sondheim were exceptions, bringing things like Runaways and Follies to the Great White Waybut for the most part I was snotty about what was popular.

I realize now this is because I wasnt.I wrote plays that shouted, Look at me! Fat Men in Skirts, one of my earliest plays to be produced, involves incest and cannibalism (and oddly no chunky transvestites). I still love that play very much and it has proven to be very popular both in this country and overseas. But it certainly wasnt the kind of thing that played on Broadway. My point is this: I never thought of myself as one who wrote Broadway plays. It never occurred to me to even have that dream.Then, gradually, over the last twenty years two things happened. I changed and Broadway changed.

The reasons for the latter are complicated, economic, artistic and better left to someone smarter than I to explain. I changed, well, because I got older. It was inevitable. I suspect Im still a stretch for some portion of the Broadway audience, but from the first moment of the first preview at the Vineyard Theatre, I sensed this play had a different kind of appeal, an enthusiasm that brought me here.How on earth did this happen?The Lyons was written in 2009. My father, by the way, was relatively healthy and vigorous at the time. (I mention this only to stifle those who think The Lyons is strictly reportage.) Several theaters with whom I have relationships stepped up and did readings at once. (I mention this only to stifle those who think The Lyons is strictly reportage.) Several theaters with whom I have relationships stepped up and did readings at once.