About the Play:

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues, and Female/Male Scenes.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a full-length comedy by Terrence McNally. The romantic and comedic tale of two lonely, middle-aged people, each carrying a great deal of emotional baggage and facing the possibility that the rest of life has passed them by. Johnny is certain that a soul mate has been found in Frankie, who is far more cautious and considers the idea ridiculous. As the night unfolds, they slowly begin to reveal themselves to each other as they take tentative steps towards the possible start of a new relationship.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is a bittersweet comedy combines poignancy and laughter as it traces the unlikely romance that begins to develop between two middle-aged "losers." The setting is a walk-up apartment on Manhattan's West Side where, as the curtain rises, Frankie (a waitress) and Johnny (a short-order cook who works in the same restaurant) are discovered in bed. It is their first encounter, after having met several weeks ago on the job, and Frankie is hopeful that Johnny will now put on his clothes and depart, so she can return to her usual routine of watching TV and eating ice cream. But Johnny, a compulsive talker (and romantic), has other ideas. He is convinced that he loves Frankie, a notion that she, at first, considers to be ridiculous. She has had more disappointments than delights in life, and he is the veteran of one broken marriage already. And neither of them is in the bloom of youth. Yet out of their sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious interplay the promise of a relationship beyond a "one-night stand" does begin to emerge and, as the lights dim, the two are back in bed again, but this time side-by-side, holding hands before the glowing television screen.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune premiered in 1987 Off-Broadway at Stage II of New York's famed Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC). A critical and popular success, it transferred to the Westside Theatre for an extended commercial run. The play transferred to Broadway in 2002 at the Belasco Theatre, proved a hit initially and in a 2003 revival. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 1 female, 1 male

What people say:

"Terrence McNally has… a hit… in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. A romantic two-hander with character depth and an abundance of laughs…." — Variety

"A richly warm, humorous, clear-eyed portrait of the beginning of a relationship, it cuts deeper to the heart than any previously seen McNally works…." — Drama-Logue

"…Terrence McNally's very sweet, extraordinarily funny, romantic and ribald comedy…." — New York Post

"Terrence McNally is one of our most original and audacious dramatists, and one of our funniest…." — The New Yorker

About the Playwright:

Terrence McNally (1938-2020) was an American playwright whose career has spanned six decades. Initially active in the burgeoning Off-Broadway theatre movement in the 1960s, he is one of the few playwrights of his generation to have successfully made the transition to Broadway, and, in the process, passed from avant-garde to mainstream acclaim. In addition to four Tony Awards for his plays, he received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller grant, and was a recipient of the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Tony Awards' Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Honor. He is considered one of America's great playwrights.