Cost of Living is a dramatic stage play written by Polish-born American playwright Martyna Majok. It premiered in Williamstown, Massachusetts, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on June 29, 2016, and had an Off-Broadway engagement in 2017. The play won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Play.
| Cost of Living | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Martyna Majok |
| Date premiered | June 29, 2016 |
| Place premiered | Williamstown Theatre Festival |
| Subject | Relationships between disabled and non-disabled persons |
| Genre | Drama |
Synopsis
editThe play examines two pairs of relationships between disabled and able persons: one between John, a graduate student with cerebral palsy and his female caregiver, Jess, and the other between Ani, who became a quadriplegic following a tragic accident and her ex-husband, Eddie, an unemployed truck driver.[1][2]
Notable casts
editGregg Mozgala and Katy Sullivan, the actors who originated the disabled characters, have those disabilities in real life.[3]
| Role | Williamstown Theatre Festival 2016[4] |
New York City Center 2017[5] |
Broadway 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jess | Rebecca Naomi Jones | Jolly Abraham | Kara Young |
| John | Gregg Mozgala | ||
| Eddie | Wendell Pierce | Victor Williams | David Zayas |
| Ani | Katy Sullivan | ||
Production history
editCost of Living was expanded from the 2015 two-character one-act Majok play John, Who's Here From Cambridge by adding a second couple.[6] John, Who's Here From Cambridge ran Off-Broadway from May 28 – June 20, 2015.[7] Cost of Living made its world premiere during a June 29 – July 10, 2016, run at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.[4] It then moved to New York City Center for a production by Manhattan Theatre Club that had previews beginning on May 16, 2017, and officially opened on June 7, 2017.[5] Williamstown Theatre Festival co-produced the Off-Broadway debut with the Manhattan Theatre Club.[8] In 2018, Williamstown Theatre Festival announced that they had commissioned a musical adaptation from Michael John LaChiusa.[9] The play made its Broadway debut in the fall of 2022 at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.[10][11]
| Theatre | Opening Date | Closing Date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown | June 29, 2016 | July 10, 2016 | Premiere production |
| New York City Center, Off-Broadway | June 7, 2017 | July 16, 2017 | Off-Broadway debut |
| Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway | October 3, 2022 | November 6, 2022 | Broadway debut |
Awards and nominations
editCost of Living earned three Lucille Lortel Awards nominations on April 4, 2018.[12] It eventually won in two of the three categories, tying with School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play for Outstanding Play and earning Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Gregg Mozgala.[13] On April 16, the play earned Majok, a University of Chicago and Yale School of Drama graduate, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her work that explores "diverse perceptions of privilege and human connection through two pairs of mismatched individuals".[14] The play received 4 Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations.[15] It also received both a Drama Desk Award[16] and a Drama League Award nomination.[17] Although, Cost of Living received no Off Broadway Alliance Awards in 2018, Director Jo Bonney earned one of the Legend of Off Broadway Awards from the organization in 2018.[18]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Play | Martyna Majok, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club |
Won (tied with School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play) |
[12] |
| Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Gregg Mozgala | Won | |||
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Katy Sullivan | Nominated | |||
| Pulitzer Prize | Drama | Martyna Majok | Won | [14] | |
| Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Katy Sullivan | Nominated | [17] | |
| Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play | Nominated | [15] | ||
| Outstanding Actor in a Play | Gregg Mozgala | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | Katy Sullivan | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Director of a Play | Jo Bonney | Nominated | |||
| Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Gregg Mozgala | Nominated | [16] | |
| 2023 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Nominated | ||
| Best Direction of a Play | Jo Bonney | Nominated | |||
| Best Featured Actor in a Play | David Zayas | Nominated | |||
| Best Featured Actress in a Play | Katy Sullivan | Nominated | |||
| Kara Young | Nominated | ||||
Notes
edit- ^ Green, Jesse (June 7, 2017). "Review: In 'Cost of Living,' a Familiar Alienation". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ McPhee, Ryan (April 16, 2018). "Martyna Majok's Cost of Living Wins 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama". Playbill. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Clement, Olivia (June 13, 2017). "Why You Shouldn't Call These Actors "Differently Abled"". Playbill. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ a b "Cost of Living". WTFestival.org. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ a b Vine, Hannah (May 31, 2017). "See the New York Premiere Martyna Majok's Cost of Living". Playbill. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Rooney, David (April 16, 2018). "'Cost of Living' Wins 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (June 3, 2015). "Review: At Ensemble Theater Studio. Men And Women Chatting Privately". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Clement, Olivia (June 7, 2017). "Cost of Living Opens June 7". Playbill. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Paulson, Michael (2018-07-12). "Pulitzer-Winning Play 'Cost of Living' Will Become a Musical". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
- ^ Paulson, Michael (2022-04-28). "Pulitzer-Winning 'Cost of Living' mad its Broadway debut on October 3rd 2022". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
- ^ Kumar, Naveen (October 3, 2022). "Martyna Majok's Pulitzer-Winning Drama Makes Sensational Broadway Debut". Variety. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ^ a b Evans, Greg (April 4, 2018). "'Torch Song', 'Jerry Springer The Opera' Among Off Broadway's Lortel Awards Nominees – Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ McPhee, Ryan (May 6, 2018). "KPOP, Cost of Living, School Girls Among 2018 Lucille Lortel Award Winners". Playbill. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
- ^ a b Allen, Suzie (April 17, 2018). "Playwright Martyna Majok, AB'07, wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama". UChicago.edu. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ a b "2018 Outer Critics Circle Nominations Announced". TheaterMania.com. 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
- ^ a b Cox, Gordon (April 26, 2018). "'Carousel,' 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Lead 2018 Drama Desk Nominations (Full List)". Variety. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ a b Evans, Greg (April 18, 2018). "Broadway's 'Harry Potter', 'Mean Girls', 'Angels In America' Among Drama League Award Nominees – Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ Gans, Andrew (April 25, 2018). "Nominees Announced for 8th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2018.