GENEVA ENGLISH DRAMA SOCIETY

Playreading 7 January 2003

WOMEN OF MANHATTAN by John Patrick Shanley

Rhonda, Judy and Billie are having dinner, over which they lament the fact that, while their careers are flourishing, their emotional lives are a wreck. But then, in a series of sharply written, subtly revealing scenes, their situations change. Billie fixes-up Judy with her ex-boyfriend; Billie's husband gives her a black eye; and Rhonda, still alone, summons up the courage to dispose of her boyfriend's sneakers. As the play ends, the three are hopeful about better times ahead, but also painfully aware that the brittle, competitive Manhattan lifestyle disappoints as quickly as it rewards.