Dec 10, 2009
The Young Man from Atlanta was first performed by the Signature Theatre Company in New York City in 1995, as part of a four-play series of Horton Foote’s work. It was the third play produced during the season, following Talking Pictures and Night Seasons. The year concluded with Laura Dennis. Publication of The Young Man from Atlanta followed in American Theatre magazine during the same year. Subsequently, multiple publishers produced copies of the play, all of which were as of 2004 out of print or required special ordering. Interestingly, three of the work’s main characters, Will Kidder, Lily Dale Kidder, and Pete Davenport, are characters from Foote’s earlier plays. All three characters appear in works that are a part of Foote’s nine-play cycle called The Orphan’s Home, which he concluded writing in the 1970s. Although Foote began writing The Young Man from Atlanta in the early 1990s, the play is often considered to be a part of the cycle because of the Kidders’ and Pete’s reappearance.
Foote’s writing career began in the late 1930s, so The Young Man from Atlanta is obviously one of the later works in his oeuvre. As an experienced writer, Foote does not shy away from sensitive and contemporary themes. In The Young Man from Atlanta, Foote explores grief, religious faith, homosexuality, suicide, race relations, the American dream, and deceit. As Ben Brantley remarked in his 1997 review for the New York Times, Foote is ‘‘a sly, compelling quiet playwright’’ who ‘‘operates from the assumption that life is a slow, steady series of unanswerable questions and losses against which there is finally no protection.’’ According to Brantley, much of Foote’s work is informed by the precept that ‘‘if you don’t talk about the darkest aspects of life, then they don’t exist.’’ Indeed, Foote leaves much in this work unsaid, and for some, that is its greatest strength.
Scene 1
The first scene of The Young Man from Atlanta opens with one of the main characters, Will Kidder, having a conversation with his co-worker, Tom Jackson, at their office at the Sunshine Southern Wholesale Grocery. While reviewing the architectural plans for his new house, Will boasts that his home is worth more than two hundred thousand dollars. Will becomes winded and tells Tom that his doctor told him that he has a slight heart condition. Tom asks Will why he wanted to build such a big house when there are only Will and his wife living in it. Will replies that it is because he grew up very poor after the death of his father and now only wants ‘‘the biggest and best’’ of everything. Their conversation then turns to the state of the company. Tom expresses concern that the company is no longer doing very well, while Will assures him that with Will’s competitive spirit, the company will right itself. Will then shows Tom a picture of his son, Bill, who has passed away recently. Will describes Bill as nothing like himself, but with a keen mind for math and education. After volunteering for the Air Force, in which he was a bombardier, Bill returned to the United States and took up work in Atlanta. Will recounts that during a business trip to Florida, Bill, who could not swim, walked into a lake and drowned. Will believes that his son committed suicide. During their conversation, Will’s secretary interrupts to let him know that his son’s former roommate from Atlanta, Randy Carter, is calling again. Will refuses to take the call and learns that Randy is in Houston staying at the YMCA. As their conversation continues, Will tells Tom that he is buying his wife a new car to celebrate the new house. Tom tells Will that their company has lost another three accounts, including Carnation Milk, which had been with the company since the beginning. Surprised that he was not told about the loss of Carnation, Will continues to assure Tom that the company survived the depression and that everything will work out. Will and Tom’s boss, Ted Cleveland Jr., then comes into the office and asks for time alone with Will. Ted tells Will that the Carnation account left because of him and that the company needs younger men to do business successfully. Ted gives Will three-months notice. However, Will says that he’d like to leave right away to start his own business. Will cancels the order for his wife’s new car and confides in Tom that his release from the company is coming at a financially difficult time. He trusts his relationships with the banks will help him with his new venture and that Tom will join him one day. Tom lets Will know that despite his efforts to help Will, Ted has given Will’s job to him. The scene ends with Will contacting a bank to discuss financing.
Scene 2
Scene 2 opens the next evening in the Kidders’ new den, where Lily Dale, Pete, and Will have gathered after dinner. Lily Dale recounts that during WWII, Eleanor Roosevelt organized the maids in Houston to not show up for work for new employers as a way to purposely ‘‘disappoint white people.’’ Will argues that such a thing never occurred and then relinquishes his protest when... » Complete The Young Man from Atlanta Summary
©2000-2009
Enotes.com Inc.
All Rights Reserved