Line #1 Theatre/AllTheWayHome


1	''All the Way Home'' is a 1960 play by Tad Mosel. An adaptation of James Agee's UsefulNotes/PulitzerPrize-winning 1957 novel ''Literature/ADeathInTheFamily'', the play itself won a Pulitzer for Drama in 1961.
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3	Jay and Mary Follett are a married couple in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1915. Jay works as a lawyer for his father-in-law, Joel Lynch. The Folletts have a six-year-old son, Rufus, who is a quiet and sensitive child. Mary has just learned that she is pregnant again, and worries about how to tell Rufus, as that discussion may require TheTalk.
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5	The action opens with the arrival of Jay's abrasive, alcoholic brother Ralph, an undertaker, along with the rest of the Folletts: Ralph's wife Sally and son Jim Wilson, and Ralph and Jay's parents, John Henry and Jessie. The whole family goes off to visit 104-year-old Great-Great-Grandmaw, bringing together five generations of Folletts. Jay and Mary go back home and have a talk about life and the distance between people. Then Jay gets a panicked call from Ralph about their father having a medical emergency. Eventually, tragedy strikes.
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7	Creator/LillianGish appeared in the original cast as Mary's mother Catherine. A 1963 film adaptation starred Creator/JeanSimmons as Mary and Creator/RobertPreston as Jay, while a 1971 ''Series/HallmarkHallOfFame'' television version starred Creator/JoanneWoodward as Mary and Creator/RichardKiley as Jay. Creator/PatHingle played Ralph in both the 1963 and 1971 adaptations. A 1981 stage production was {{broadcast live}} on NBC; Creator/SallyField starred as Mary, with Creator/WilliamHurt as Jay and Creator/NedBeatty as Ralph.
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10	!!Tropes:
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12	* TheAlcoholic: Ralph arrives at Jay and Mary's house drunk and belligerent, swigging from a flask hidden in his coat. Jay apparently had a drinking problem in his past that he quit by GoingColdTurkey.
13	* CensorshipBySpelling: The conservative Mary worries about how to explain to Rufus that she is pregnant. She tells her husband, "Jay, I don't want him asking any q-u-e-s-t-i-o-n-s." Jay laughs and says that won't work as Rufus can spell better than they can.
14	* DissonantLaughter: Mary is sobbing and drinking whiskey when Catherine says, "Mother said in times of stress the best thing to drink was buttermilk." Everyone else dissolves in hysterical cackling laughter.
15	* DrowningMySorrows: Mary demands whiskey and starts downing shots after hearing about Jay's death in the accident.
16	* EarTrumpet: Mary's mostly deaf mother Catherine wears one. Catherine's mishearing things and people having to shout into the ear trumpet are a running gag.
17	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Jay's opening scene in which he comforts Rufus after the GangOfBullies made Rufus cry establishes him as a caring and affectionate father.
18	* GangOfBullies: The four neighborhood kids who seem to like nothing more than to scream at Rufus that he has "a n***r name".
19	* ItsAllAboutMe: Rufus is a complete prick before the funeral, shouting about how angry he is that they took Jay to a local undertaker instead of letting him handle it.
20	* MaidenAunt: Mary's Aunt Hannah, there to lend support after Jay is killed. After Hannah says Mary has to rely on God, a hysterical Mary says "Oh Aunt Hannah, you never had anything but God! I had a man."
21	* RunningGag: Catherine's deafness and misunderstanding things. Twice characters go to answer the telephone and Catherine says "Bathroom?"
22	* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: The play ends with Mary finally explaining to Rufus that she's going to have a baby.

Context Theatre / AllTheWayHome