Through Her New Play, Bess Wohl Found A Way To Better Understand The Complexities Of Relationships

Several years ago, playwright Bess Wohl discovered that a number of her closest friends’ parents had been divorced in their mid-seventies and eighties. She often found herself talking about the breakups with her close friends who were dealing with it. “I was keenly aware of what a huge trauma it was for them,” says the masterful playwright who wrote the plays Make Believe and Small Mouth Sounds. “Even though they were obviously adults.”

Then she started to mine the issue a bit more and realized there was a cultural phenomenon in place. It even had a name: Gray Divorce. “So that gave me hope that this might be something that would resonate with others as well,” she says. On a personal level Wohl herself was newly married, then pregnant and grappling with her own issues about love and relationships.

She longed to explore what it takes to sustain connection over time while not sacrificing your individual spirit. How do you stay connected with yourself and in a relationship with someone else? “Navigating the balance between freedom and commitment was very acute for me,” she shares. “Essentially I was wondering whether it is possible to be in a relationship—especially in a family context—and also be your full self.”

By 2017 Wohl had been toying with the idea of the play for years, considering how to approach it. She met with the prolific director Leigh Silverman. Several years before they collaborated on Wohl’s debut play American Hero, which Silverman had directed at Williamstown Theatre Festival and at Second Stage. Their bond went back nearly a decade before when they first worked together. Wohl, a graduate of the Yale School of drama, had been an actress and Silverman directed her in Lisa Kron’s play In the Wake. “I was so blown away by Bess’ talent and creativity,” says Silverman.

Over coffee Wohl asked Silverman what she thought of her idea. Silverman immediately lit up. It turned out that Silverman’s own grandparents got divorced after 50 years of marriage. “My grandfather left my grandmother the day after their 50th wedding anniversary. It rocked my family to the core,” says Silverman who always wished to do a play about these issues. “You must write this play, you must,” Silverman pleaded.

In an instant Wohl knew she had the missing piece of the puzzle that she needed to move forward. “The play literally wouldn't exist if Leigh hadn't sparked all of that for me,” adds Wohl. After several years of working on the play, just last week Grand Horizons opened on Broadway and is presented by Second Stage Theater.

In the play Nancy (Jane Alexander) and Bill (James Cromwell) are divorcing after a half century of marriage. Michael Urie and Ben McKenzie play their adult sons dealing with the news, trying navigate how to fit within this new dynamic. Maulik Pancholy, Ashley Park and Priscilla Lopez deftly round out the cast in pivotal roles. “I laughed out loud while I was reading the script. Eight times. I counted them. And that usually doesn't happen,” said Alexander. “I thought, this is really beautifully written. It’s an important subject about aging and people staying together for fifty years. But it's also very funny.”

For the cast, working on Grand Horizons feels distinctly unique. “We are doing such a human story. And I haven’t encountered a female character written for the stage who has complexities, nuance, flaws and desires that this character has,” says Park who plays Jess, the daughter-in-law to the divorcing couple. “The play is so timely,” observes Lopez.

“The parents have spent many years miscommunicating with each other,” adds Urie. “The play shines a light on all these issues that they didn’t realize they had. It’s painful but very satisfying to make truth.” In fact the parents offer a special lens in which their children’s lives are are newly visible. “Through the impending divorce, the problems in their lives are revealed,” says McKenzie. “They are seeing the imminent disintegration of a seemingly stable marriage of 50 years. It’s cataclysmic.”

Silverman, who is a major part of the genesis of Grand Horizons, is represented in a profound way at the Hayes Theater where the show is currently playing. On stage is a secret photograph of Silverman’s grandparents but only the cast can see it. “It’s a reminder of how this all began,” says Wohl.

In fact Wohl’s and Silverman’s deep admiration and respect for each other is mutual. “Bess' writing is so extraordinary because she takes most tragic things that happen in life and she reveals what is funny about them,” says Silverman. “And she takes the things that are the funniest in life and she reveals the tragedy underneath them.”

Jeryl Brunner: Bess, what qualities does Leigh have that you adore?

Bess Wohl: Leigh is a ferocious collaborator and a tireless defender of the things she believes in. She works at the absolute highest level and has little patience for anything else. Few people are able to hold both passion and clarity, but Leigh is that rare combination of both. She is also deeply self-possessed but she is never out for herself. She the rare artist who is more interested in lifting others up, finding the story they want to tell without imposing her ego or her preconceived notions. And it's clear that she does that time and time again when you look at her track record with the other artists, especially women, who have been lucky enough to find themselves in her orbit. 

Brunner: Can you talk more about how Grand Horizons delves into what it is like to exist in a relationship? Especially in a family context, while holding on to your individual ideals and desires.

Wohl: All of the characters in the play are navigating that question. Nancy says to her son, “I will be a whole person to you.” But is that even possible? Can a mother be a whole person to her child? Is it desired or appropriate? Each person in my play is bumping up against the confines of their role, and ultimately trying to find ways to break the mold in which they have found themselves trapped.

I have found since I've shared this with audiences that this is something that women in particular think about a lot. As Jess says in the play, “First I was babe, and now I'm going to be Mom...” So often the roles we play threaten to swallow us whole. This is something that every character in the play is contending with in different ways. 

Brunner: Jane and James, what do you adore about the cast?

James Cromwell: When people are really good, they make you grow. The first thing you look at is their performance. You think, damn, can I do that? And then you realize, oh geez, I'm going to have to. I'm going to have to be on stage and do what I see in the other person, which is to be there in the moment, doing the work, feeling the feelings, expressing it and living it through your body. That is like taking a roller coaster ride.

Jane Alexander: It’s a wonderful cast and all of them raise the bar really high.

Brunner: Bess, what inspired you make the evolution from being an actress to a playwright?

Wohl: I don't think I was such a great actress.

Leigh Silverman: She was. She was a great actress.

Wohl: To me it felt like a natural evolution. If you are interested in character and story, the natural next step in my artistic development seemed to move from embodying the story to having more of birds eye view of the story. And being able to craft it.

Having been an actor, I draw on that all the time in my writing. I’m always thinking about how can I get deeper inside. How would I play this part if I were acting it? It's really the foundation of all of my writing.

Brunner: Do you miss acting or pieces of it?

Wohl: I don't miss auditioning. But I do miss the feeling of magic when you're on stage. And I love being able to be in the back pacing with a cup of coffee or glass of wine.