After 60 plays, Horton Foote still striving

He says he's currently grateful for a dream cast in this 13-character ensemble piece, including the playwright's daughter, Hallie, and grande dame of the theater Elizabeth Ashley. According to Ashley, Foote is "one of the greatest American dramatists, because he takes you into the center of the middle of the marrow of that which can only be American. It's extraordinary how timely this play is."

Although a comedy, the play revolves around serious themes, like the search for (or rejection of) connection, identity, home, and family. The character Hallie Foote plays swoops down on the family mansion like a vulture, bickering with her siblings over the value and distribution of their legacy. She's a comic character but never a caricature. She explains that her father eschews stereotypes and cheap laughs: "When you go deeper, there's a lot at stake," she says.

"This play came from long observation of dividing the estate," the playwright explains, which "seems to incur feelings of insecurity, anger, or frustration."

"I've seen so many families that have gone through all kinds of stress and strain," he adds. "And, though I'm not a prophet, I think these people have lessons to learn. We don't preach or criticize them, but the lessons will be apparent."

The play's setting in the 1980s "was a very specific time in the South and particularly in Houston and my hometown," says Foote. "There were so many foreclosures. It was a time of great despair economically."

For Castleberry, the play shows a family holding on to a world that doesn't exist anymore and trying to come to grips with change. "It's all about things and money rather than virtue and values and relationships," he says.

Foote experienced a similar turning point in his family at age 10, when the family patriarch died. "My grandfather, who was a very distinguished man and the universe of this family, passed away very early. I don't know that the family ever recovered, but they did make adjustments," he recalls. "There was growth on some people's part, and for others it seemed to be a shattering experience. Change is necessary."

He takes his own advice to heart, collaborating with actors and director if a script requires change. During rehearsals, he trims or rearranges lines in pursuit of an ideal staging. "I'm always experimenting and searching," he says.

Ron Bernstein, Foote's film agent, notes, "Typically people repeat themselves as they age. It's assumed, as you get older, you get sentimental. But Horton gets more clear-eyed. His work gets better."

Foote admits, "I find myself in very strange territory. I don't know what I thought 90 would be. You wake up and there you are." His secret? "I just keep going," he says.

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