Will Stutt's thought-provoking study on friendship
First premiering at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1998, Will Stutt's quietly contemplative play finally makes a return to the Philadelphia venue. Following a reunion of two writer friends, one world-famous, one languishing, the two artists agree to a surprising proposal, the more successful will help write a book and allow the other to put their name to it. But is this a gift, or a curse in disguise? At the time of the play's premiere, there was much speculation that the two writers in question were in fact Truman Capote offering a leg up to Harper Lee for "Mockingbird" - however Stutts has remained tightly lipped on his inspiration to this day!
The Capote-Lee friendship was in fact a true story. Two close friends in their native Alabama, both met whilst attending college in the state. Whilst Lee struggled to have her works on race relations published due to overly cautious publishers, Capote's work instantly found success. The fictional setting of their meeting years later as suggested in The Gift is by no means an attempt to take Lee's success away, but a study in how literary talent flourishes between friends.
