Overview
Synopsis
Three Tall Women takes place in the bedroom of a sick and forgetful old woman (A). In the first act she is cared for by a middle-aged companion (B) and visited by a young woman (C) sent by the lawyer to settle some financial affairs. A is imperious and acerbic, which B is used to deal and manages effectively. However, C is impatient and quick to rise to A’s jibes. During their discussion of A's life, they muse on love, family relationships, sex, pain, and the body’s inevitable decline. After A suffers a stroke that leaves her on the edge of death, her body is replaced by an identical mannequin of A in the bed. Away from the bed, she joins B and C in discussing events in their mutual life and how one matured into the other. For they are, in fact, all the same woman--"everywoman”--at different stages of her life.
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Context
Three Tall Women first opened at the English Theatre in Vienna, Austria in June 1991. Edward Albee directed Myra Carter as ‘A’ (the old woman) in this first production. Three years later, the play opened off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, with Myra Carter reprising her lead role and winning Best Actress at the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Three Tall Women also won the awards for Best Play at all three of these award ceremonies. The play was also awarded
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Act One
The play opens one afternoon in the grand bedroom of a wealthy, old woman. Accompanying the elderly lady, identified simply as A, are two other women. B, the carer, is middle aged, while C is in her twenties. From the first instance, A asserts herself as a cantankerous force that both B and C must assuage. B finds this easier than C, who rises to the bait and involves herself in frustrating argument about age. Suddenly, A declares, “I want to go.” B helps A to the bathroom
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Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in Three Tall Women.
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Guide Written By:
Alexandra Appleton
Writer, editor and theatre researcher