Three Days of Rain
Three Days of Rain is a two-act play written by American dramatist Richard Greenberg (1958–2025), which premiered in 1997 and examines themes of family secrets, miscommunication, and legacy through dual timelines featuring the same three actors portraying characters from different generations.[1] The play's first act is set in the present day (late 1990s), where Walker Janeway, his sister Nan, and their friend Pip—son of the late architect Theo—gather in their fathers' abandoned loft to read Ned Janeway's will and decipher cryptic entries in his journal, particularly one noting "three days of rain" during a pivotal period in 1960.[2] This discovery prompts Walker to speculate on a hidden romantic history involving their parents and Theo, revealing tensions in their sibling and friendly relationships.[3] In the second act, set in 1960 New York, the same actors portray the younger Ned, Theo, and their colleague Lina (Walker's and Nan's mother), unfolding a love triangle and professional partnership that built a renowned architectural landmark, ultimately clarifying the misunderstandings from the first act.[2] Commissioned and world premiered by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, opening March 9, 1997, directed by Evan Yionoulis, the production featured John Slattery as Walker/Ned, Patricia Clarkson as Nan/Lina, and Jon Tenney as Pip/Theo.[4] It transferred Off-Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club's New York City Center Stage II later that year, directed by Evan Yionoulis, with Bradley Whitford replacing Tenney as Pip/Theo, earning acclaim as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama in 1998.[1] A high-profile Broadway revival opened on April 19, 2006, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Julia Roberts in her Broadway debut as Nan/Lina, Paul Rudd as Walker/Ned, and Bradley Cooper as Pip/Theo; this production ran for 102 performances and received Tony Award nominations for Best Scenic Design (Santo Loquasto) and Best Lighting Design (Paul Gallo).[3] The play has since seen numerous regional and international productions, including a 2009 West End run at the Apollo Theatre with Mark Bazeley, Lyndsey Marshal, and James McAvoy, underscoring its enduring exploration of how personal histories shape familial perceptions.[5]Background
Author
Richard Greenberg was born on February 22, 1958, in East Meadow, New York.[6] He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Princeton University in 1980, studying creative writing under Joyce Carol Oates, before briefly pursuing graduate studies in English and American literature at Harvard University from 1980 to 1981.[7] Although he later enrolled at Harvard Law School, Greenberg ultimately abandoned legal pursuits in favor of playwriting, completing an MFA in drama at Yale University in 1985.[8] Greenberg passed away on July 4, 2025, at the age of 67 from cancer in a Manhattan nursing home.[9] Greenberg's early career gained momentum with the 1985 George Oppenheimer Award from Newsday for Best New American Playwright, awarded for his off-off-Broadway play The Bloodletters while he was still at Yale.[10] He received numerous commissions from prestigious regional theaters, including South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, which became a key collaborator, premiering eight of his works and commissioning more than any other institution in his career.[11] Greenberg's playwriting style was characterized by witty, introspective dramas that delved into family dynamics, miscommunication, and the nuances of American middle- and upper-class life, often blending sharp verbal elegance with emotional depth.[12] Among his most acclaimed works is Take Me Out (2003), which earned him the Tony Award for Best Play, along with Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle honors.[13] In the context of Three Days of Rain, Greenberg's contributions were shaped by his longstanding relationship with South Coast Repertory, which commissioned the play as part of its new works development program; it received its world premiere there in 1997.[14] His Jewish-American background subtly informed recurring themes of inheritance, memory, and interpretive ambiguity across his oeuvre, reflecting personal and cultural explorations of legacy.[15]Development and premiere
Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain was commissioned by South Coast Repertory (SCR) as part of its commitment to new play development.[16] The playwright brought an early version of the script to SCR for a public reading in 1995, allowing for initial audience feedback and refinements during the workshop process.[17] Drawing from themes of generational misunderstandings and the gaps in family narratives, Greenberg conceived the play's innovative structure—two acts set in the same loft but separated by 35 years, with the same three actors portraying both contemporary siblings and their parents in non-chronological sequence—to explore how the past eludes full comprehension.[18] The world premiere occurred at SCR's Second Stage in Costa Mesa, California, directed by Evan Yionoulis and running from early March to April 6, 1997.[4] The cast featured Patricia Clarkson as Nan/Lina, John Slattery as Walker/Ned, and Jon Tenney as Pip/Theo, delivering performances that highlighted the script's blend of wit, mystery, and emotional depth.[19] Positive responses from the workshop and premiere audiences, including praise for its intellectual rigor and theatrical ingenuity, prompted script revisions to sharpen the dialogue and pacing before its transfer.[4] Buoyed by the acclaim at SCR—where Greenberg was already an established collaborator following works like Collected Stories—the production quickly moved to New York.[20] It opened Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on November 12, 1997, retaining Yionoulis as director and the cast of Clarkson, Slattery, and Bradley Whitford.[18] The MTC run, which extended through early 1998, solidified the play's reputation, earning a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination and affirming Greenberg's skill in crafting elusive, memory-driven family dramas.[18]Synopsis
Act one
The first act of Three Days of Rain is set in the late 1990s in an abandoned family loft in SoHo, New York City, the former home and workspace of the protagonists' renowned architect fathers.[2] The story centers on siblings Walker Janeway and his sister Nan, who reunite in the dusty, cluttered space following the recent death of their father, Ned Janeway, a celebrated but enigmatic architect.[2] Their childhood friend Pip, the son of Ned's professional partner Theo—a charismatic and equally famous architect—joins them to sort through the estate after Ned's will unexpectedly bequeaths the bulk of his fortune to charity, leaving the siblings with only a modest inheritance.[2][21] Walker, portrayed as quirky and emotionally unstable, has returned to the loft after disappearing for a year on the day of Ned's funeral, driven by his obsession with unraveling the mysteries of his parents' past.[2] He discovers his father's private journal hidden under a bed, which proves largely unforthcoming except for a cryptic entry dated April 3–5, 1960: "Theo and Ned. Three days of rain."[2][22] Walker fixates on this phrase, interpreting it as a key to explaining the origins of the family's wealth, which stems from a groundbreaking house design credited jointly to Ned and Theo, as well as the perceived emotional coldness in his upbringing.[2][18] Tensions escalate as Walker's unreliability—marked by his erratic behavior and history of mental health struggles—clashes with Nan's practicality and Pip's detached celebrity demeanor, exposing long-buried family secrets and resentments.[21][23] Through their interactions, the act highlights pointed discussions on inheritance disputes, with Walker railing against the perceived injustice of Ned's will and the unequal legacies left by the fathers.[2] Dialogue underscores Walker's instability, as he oscillates between manic theorizing about the journal and vulnerable admissions of feeling unloved, prompting Nan to question his reliability: "Do things really stay secret that long?"[18] The siblings and Pip also grapple with misperceptions of their parents' relationship, with Walker envisioning a fraught, destructive dynamic between Ned and his mother, while Nan defends a more idealized view, revealing their divergent interpretations of family history.[18][2] These exchanges build a sense of ambiguity, as the trio's attempts to decode the journal's meaning yield only frustrations and insights into their own emotional baggage rather than concrete revelations about the past.[2] The act culminates in the characters' failed efforts to resolve the mystery, leaving them mired in confusion and underscoring the generational gap in understanding.[2] Walker's insistence on a singular "solution" to the puzzle heightens the dramatic tension, but the scene closes on unresolved ambiguity, with the loft's disarray mirroring their fractured perceptions.[21][23]Act two
Act Two shifts to 1960, unfolding in the same empty loft space in downtown Manhattan during a relentless three-day rainstorm that floods the streets of New York City and traps its inhabitants indoors. The action focuses on Ned, a young architect's apprentice who stutters under pressure; his boss and business partner Theo, an erratic genius grappling with creative blocks; and Lena, Theo's sharp-witted secretary from the South.[24][23] The play opens with Theo and Lena returning to the loft after a lovers' quarrel on the street, their relationship strained by Theo's volatility and the era's shifting social norms, including the recent availability of the birth control pill. Ned, already inside and sketching at a drafting table, critiques Theo's latest blueprint—a derivative homage to Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House—highlighting their professional rivalry and Theo's mounting frustration. Tensions escalate as Theo, unable to progress on their firm's high-profile Janeway House commission, suffers a profound mental breakdown, withdrawing into delusions where he imagines himself dead or detached from reality.[24][25] As the rain intensifies, Ned encounters Lena seeking shelter, and the two take refuge in the loft, where Ned's quiet infatuation with her blossoms into deeper connection amid the isolation. Over the ensuing days, the trio—joined intermittently by Theo's return—engages in fervent discussions about modernist architecture's ideals of transparency and form, intertwined with personal confessions on love, ambition, and the capriciousness of fate. Theo, in a manic burst of inspiration during his breakdown, verbally outlines the revolutionary design for the Janeway House, envisioning a structure that harmonizes with nature through glass walls and open spaces. Lena, torn between her loyalty to Theo and her growing affection for Ned, navigates the emotional turmoil, while Ned's stutter hinders clear expression of his feelings.[24][26] These "three days of rain" literalize the play's central metaphor, confining the characters in a pressure cooker of revelation and misunderstanding that exposes their vulnerabilities. In a pivotal scene, Theo implores Ned to care for Lena, but his fragmented speech and Ned's anxiety lead to crossed wires, with Ned misinterpreting the plea as unrelated to romance. The act culminates in miscommunications that fracture their bonds: Theo vanishes after the storm, later revealed to have died young; Ned marries Lena and claims the Janeway House design as his own to salvage the firm's reputation, though it was Theo's vision; and Lena and Ned's union dissolves into separation, leaving a legacy of unspoken truths that confound their children decades later. These revelations clarify the cryptic journal entries from Act One, upending the siblings' assumptions about their parents' lives.[24][23]Characters
''Three Days of Rain'' is written for a cast of three actors who portray six characters across two timelines. === Present day ===- '''Walker Janeway''': Son of Ned and Lina; an emotionally unstable writer who disappears frequently and obsesses over his family's past.[2]
- '''Nan Janeway''': Walker's sister; a successful actress who is more grounded but strained by family tensions.[2]
- '''Pip''': Son of the late architect Theo; a television actor and childhood friend of Walker and Nan.[2]
Themes and analysis
Three Days of Rain primarily examines the theme of miscommunication, particularly how incomplete or ambiguous information leads to profound misunderstandings between generations. In the first act, Walker and Nan draw erroneous conclusions from their father Ned's cryptic journal entry about "three days of rain," speculating on a hidden romantic affair among their parents and Theo, which strains their sibling relationship.[4] The second act reveals the truth of the 1960 events, underscoring how Ned's reticence and silence—intended to protect—cause unintended emotional harm to his children, as one analysis notes: "the shroud of silence one generation uses to lay to rest painful truths may end up causing… immense grief for the next."[4] A central motif is the gap between intentions and outcomes, or unintended consequences, illustrated by the ironic disconnect between the characters' past actions and their lasting impact on descendants. The play highlights how parental decisions, such as the love triangle among Ned, Theo, and Lina, shape the next generation's perceptions and neuroses without their knowledge, leading to "the sad gap between human intentions and their outcomes."[25] This extends to themes of family secrets and legacy, where material inheritance—like the renowned Janeway House—pales against the psychological legacies of genius, madness, and emotional austerity passed down, as Walker inherits traits mirroring his mother's instability.[27][28] Critics have also noted existential elements, including the loneliness of intimacy and the futility of fully understanding others, with the play making "valid Stoppardian points about the way we misinterpret the past" and contrasting 1960s optimism with 1990s self-absorption.[5] Overall, Greenberg uses the dual timelines to explore how personal histories distort familial bonds, emphasizing presumptions built on assumptions about unknowable influences.[29]Production history
World premiere
The world premiere of Three Days of Rain took place at the South Coast Repertory's Second Stage in Costa Mesa, California, running from late February to April 6, 1997.[19] Directed by Evan Yionoulis, the production featured a cast including John Slattery as Walker/Ned, Patricia Clarkson as Nan/Lina, and Jon Tenney as Pip/Theo.[19][4] The creative team emphasized the play's dual timelines through innovative design elements. Scenic designer Christopher Barreca created a versatile loft set that transformed from a barren, modern Greenwich Village apartment in Act 1 (set in 1995) to a more lived-in artist's garret in Act 2 (set in 1960), visually underscoring the generational disconnect at the play's core.[19] Lighting designer Donald Holder complemented this with atmospheric effects, including simulated rain to evoke the titular event, while sound designer Garth Hemphill and costume designer Candice Cain contributed to the temporal shifts.[19][4] As South Coast Repertory's commissioned world premiere, the staging marked the play's first professional mounting and allowed for final refinements to Greenberg's script through its workshop origins at the theater.[30] Initial reception highlighted the production's strengths in witty dialogue and strong ensemble performances, with critics praising its innovative structure exploring misunderstanding across generations, though some noted an emotional reserve in its inconclusive resolution.[19][4] This debut propelled the play toward broader recognition, culminating in its status as a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[30]New York productions
The New York premiere of Three Days of Rain took place Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club's City Center Stage II, running from November 12, 1997, to January 4, 1998.[31] Directed by Evan Yionoulis, the production featured Patricia Clarkson as Nan/Lina, John Slattery as Walker/Ned, and Bradley Whitford as Pip/Theo.[32] The play, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama in 1998, garnered strong acclaim for its exploration of familial misunderstanding and inheritance, drawing audiences through its limited engagement. A Broadway revival opened on April 19, 2006, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, following previews from March 28, and closed on June 18 after a limited run of 70 performances (and 26 previews).[1] Directed by Joe Mantello, the cast included Julia Roberts in her Broadway debut as Nan/Lina, Paul Rudd as Walker/Ned, and Bradley Cooper as Pip/Theo.[3] Scenic design by Santo Loquasto featured a minimalist set evoking a rain-swept loft and 1950s architect's office, emphasizing the play's temporal shifts.[33] Despite mixed critical response, the production achieved commercial success, recouping its $2.5 million investment through sellout crowds driven by Roberts' star power and high-profile marketing.[34] In March 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Manhattan Theatre Club presented a virtual reunion reading via their Curtain Call Series, streaming from March 11 to 21.[32] Reuniting the original Off-Broadway cast—Clarkson, Slattery, and Whitford—under Yionoulis' direction, the event celebrated the play's legacy and offered audiences a remote performance format during theater closures.[35]London and international productions
The UK premiere of Three Days of Rain took place at the Donmar Warehouse in London, directed by Robin Lefevre, running from 9 September to 6 November 1999, with a second limited run from 5 January to 22 January 2000.[36][37] The cast featured Colin Firth as Walker/Ned, David Morrissey as Pip/Theo, and Elizabeth McGovern as Nan/Lina, delivering performances noted for their emotional depth in exploring familial miscommunications.[38] This production marked the play's introduction to British audiences, highlighting its themes of generational disconnect in a minimalist setting that emphasized the script's witty dialogue and structural ingenuity.[39] A high-profile revival transferred to the West End at the Apollo Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd, with previews beginning 30 January 2009 and running through 2 May 2009.[40] The cast included James McAvoy as Walker/Ned, Lyndsey Marshal as Nan/Lina, and Nigel Harman as Pip/Theo, whose dynamic portrayals brought fresh intensity to the dual-timeline narrative.[41] McAvoy's star power, fresh from film roles, significantly boosted attendance, contributing to the production's commercial success as it recouped its investment by April 2009.[42] The staging earned three Laurence Olivier Award nominations, including Best Revival, Best Actor in a Play for McAvoy, and Best Lighting Design.[43] Internationally, the play gained traction following its Steppenwolf Theatre Company production in Chicago from February to April 1999, directed by Anna D. Shapiro with a cast including Amy Morton, which influenced subsequent European interest through its acclaimed exploration of inheritance and perception.[44] The Australian premiere occurred in 2001 by Folio Theatre, produced at the Melbourne Theatre Company's Fairfax Studio, where the work's universal themes of parental legacy resonated with local audiences amid a focus on intimate family dynamics.[45] These stagings underscored the play's adaptability, maintaining Greenberg's original text while allowing directors to emphasize cultural nuances in misunderstanding across time.[5]Regional and other productions
Following its premiere, Three Days of Rain received an early revival at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company from February 11 to April 11, 1999, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro and featuring ensemble actors including Amy Morton and Tracy Letts.[46][47][48] This production contributed to the development of emerging actors within the ensemble, showcasing the play's potential for intimate ensemble work.[48] South Coast Repertory, the commissioning theater, remounted the play on its main stage in 2011, directed by co-founding artistic director David Emmes, as part of its ongoing commitment to Greenberg's works.[49][50] Other notable regional productions include Oldcastle Theatre Company's staging in Bennington, Vermont, which opened on June 9, 2007, under the direction of the company's artistic director and featured a mix of returning and debuting actors.[51] In Portland, Oregon, defunkt theatre presented the play from February 28 to March 23, 2013, at its Back Door Theater, emphasizing its compact dramatic structure.[52] Portland Center Stage followed with a 2015 production from May 17 to June 21, starring television actors Silas Weir Mitchell and Sasha Roiz from the series Grimm alongside Lisa Datz, highlighting the play's appeal for cross-medium casting.[53][54] More recent regional productions include A Public Fit Theatre Company's staging in October 2022 and Westford Academy Theater Arts' production in May 2025.[55][56] The play's popularity in regional and community theaters stems from its minimal requirements—a cast of three actors playing six roles and a simple set depicting a loft—making it ideal for smaller venues and budgets.[14] It has also been frequently staged in educational settings, such as at Villanova University under director Father David Cregan and at Idaho State University, where it supported innovative scenic designs like UV effects in a black box space.[57][58] Post-2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, productions shifted to virtual formats, including a free online reading by the original 1997 Off-Broadway cast—Patricia Clarkson, John Slattery, and Bradley Whitford—streamed by Manhattan Theatre Club from March 11 to 21, 2021, and additional streamed presentations of the play through the same organization.[59][35]Reception
Critical response
The premiere production of Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 1997 received widespread acclaim for its elegant structure and emotional resonance, with critic D. J. R. Bruckner of The New York Times describing it as a "subtle and absorbing generational drama" that unfolds like an "elegantly structured" puzzle, though he noted a "surfeit of glibness" in the characters' intellectual posturing that risked undermining deeper themes.[18] Variety's review echoed this praise for Greenberg's "savvy, intelligent wit" and "richly conceived characters," but critiqued the first act's heavy exposition and the play's overall "low flame" intensity, which limited dramatic momentum despite the cast's sensitivity.[4] Overall, the production was lauded for its exploration of familial mysteries and inherited emotional burdens, earning a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination in 1998. The 2006 Broadway revival, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd, and Bradley Cooper, elicited mixed responses, with Variety highlighting strong performances—particularly Rudd's distinct character portrayals and Cooper's magnetic presence—but faulting the production for exposing the play's "emotional blanks" and transforming it into a "star vehicle" that prioritized celebrity draw over intimacy.[60] Ben Brantley in The New York Times concurred, calling the interpretation "wooden and splintered" and criticizing Roberts' stiffness in her dual role, though he acknowledged her "genuinely humble performance" amid the audience's adulation.[61] Despite the uneven reviews, the revival proved a commercial success, selling out its limited run due to Roberts' star power. In the 2009 West End production at the Apollo Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd and featuring James McAvoy, Lyndsey Marshal, and Nigel Harman, The Guardian's Michael Billington praised McAvoy's "dynamic" and "stand-out" dual performance as injecting vital energy into the roles of Walker and Ned, capturing confusion and decency with a convincing stammer.[5] However, Billington debated the play's structure, deeming it "elegant and civilised" but lacking high stakes and feeling somewhat dated in its Stoppardian exploration of historical misinterpretation, especially compared to more epic family dramas.[5] Across productions, critics consistently admired Greenberg's witty dialogue and intricate time-shifting structure, which reinterprets parental legacies through memory and misunderstanding, while debates persisted over the resolutions' predictability and the first act's expository density.[4][5] Scholarly analyses in theater journals have examined the play's postmodern elements, such as its non-linear temporality and rejection of master narratives, positioning it as a key text in 2000s drama for probing the elusiveness of personal history and traumatic forgetting.[62]Awards and nominations
Three Days of Rain received recognition across several prestigious theater awards, particularly for its original production and subsequent revivals. The play was a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, though it did not win; the prize went to Paula Vogel's How I Learned to Drive.[63] Its world premiere at South Coast Repertory in 1997 earned Richard Greenberg the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's Ted Schmitt Award for Distinguished Playwriting, honoring the best new play to premiere in the region that year.[64] The Off-Broadway production at Manhattan Theatre Club in 1998 garnered a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.[31] Greenberg himself had previously received the George Oppenheimer Award for Best New American Playwright in 1985, an early career honor that underscored his rising prominence leading into works like Three Days of Rain.[65] The 2006 Broadway revival, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, and Paul Rudd, earned two Tony Award nominations: Best Scenic Design of a Play for Santo Loquasto and Best Lighting Design of a Play for Paul Gallo.[1] Neither won, with the awards going to Michael Yeargan for Awake and Sing! in scenic design and Christopher Akerlind for Awake and Sing! in lighting design.[66] The 2009 West End production at the Apollo Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd and featuring James McAvoy, Lyndsey Marshal, and Nigel Harman, received three nominations at the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards: Best Revival, Best Actor in a Play for McAvoy, and Best Lighting Design for Jon Clark.[67] The revival category was won by Jerusalem, McAvoy lost to Mark Rylance in Jerusalem, and Clark's lighting nomination went to Paule Constable for Love Never Dies.[68] Following Greenberg's death from cancer on July 4, 2025, at age 67, critics and theater communities reevaluated his body of work, including Three Days of Rain, highlighting its enduring themes of family and ambiguity; however, no additional awards or nominations specifically for the play emerged in the months after.[8]| Award | Year | Category | Result | Production | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulitzer Prize for Drama | 1998 | Finalist | Nominated | Original | pulitzer.org |
| Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle | 1997 | Ted Schmitt Award (Distinguished Playwriting) | Won | World Premiere (South Coast Repertory) | ladramacriticscircle.com |
| Drama Desk Award | 1998 | Outstanding Play | Nominated | Off-Broadway (Manhattan Theatre Club) | broadwayworld.com |
| Tony Award | 2006 | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Nominated (Santo Loquasto) | Broadway Revival | ibdb.com |
| Tony Award | 2006 | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Nominated (Paul Gallo) | Broadway Revival | ibdb.com |
| Laurence Olivier Award | 2010 | Best Revival | Nominated | West End (Apollo Theatre) | officiallondontheatre.com |
| Laurence Olivier Award | 2010 | Best Actor in a Play | Nominated (James McAvoy) | West End (Apollo Theatre) | whatsonstage.com |
| Laurence Olivier Award | 2010 | Best Lighting Design | Nominated (Jon Clark) | West End (Apollo Theatre) | broadwaymusicalblog.com |