THE HOT L BALTIMORE

Lanford Wilson (1937–2011) was one of the most distinguished American playwrights of the late 20th century. His work was instrumental in drawing attention to Off-Off-Broadway, where his early works were staged, but he was among the first playwrights whose work ascended to Off-Broadway and Broadway stages. His plays vividly captured American life and are regularly performed in regional theatres across the United States. Wilson, the author of over 20 plays and several opera libretti, created (as one reviewer described) “portraits of losers on the margins of life,” offering true-to-life characters in realistic and relatable experiences with authentic, gritty and often overlapping dialogue.

Born in Missouri in 1937, Wilson was educated across the US, from Missouri to San Diego, and Chicago, before moving to New York City in 1962. In 1969, he co-founded the Circle Repertory Company, where he continued to present his work until it closed in 1996. The Hot l Baltimore, produced in 1973, was one of Circle Repertory’s first big successes, transferring shortly afterwards to a larger Off-Broadway theatre and then running for 1166 performances until 1976. The play received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play and multiple Off-Broadway Obie Awards.  

Among his works is a series of plays about the effects of the Vietnam War on a Missouri family, The 5th of July, Talley’s Folly (winner of a 1980 Pulitzer Prize), A Tale Told, and Talley and Son. Later notable plays include Burn This (1987) — which was recently revived on Broadway in 2019 with Adam Driver and Kerri Russell — Angels Fall (1983) and Redwood Curtain (1993).

Wilson was nominated for three Tony Awards and won a Drama Desk Award and five Obie Awards. In 2004, he was given the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist and, in the same year, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010 he was lauded by the Off-Off-Broadway community with the Artistic Achievement Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards, “in recognition of his brave and unique works that helped establish the Off-Off-Broadway community and propel the independent theatre voice as an important contributor to the American stage.”

In an interview, Wilson once commented: “I want people to see — and to read — my plays and to say: ‘This is what it was like living in that place at that time. People haven’t changed a damn bit. We can recognize everyone.’”