Eastern Standard

The play begins in a trendy Manhattan restaurant, where Stephen, a young architect, and his best friend, Drew, a Soho artist, are lunching

At an adjacent table are Phoebe, a Wall Street investment banker, and her brother, Peter, a discouraged television producer who, as he confides to his sister, has AIDS

Stephen is attracted to Phoebe, and Drew (who is gay) is intrigued by Peter and, after several raucous (and very funny) episodes involving a bottle - throwing bag lady at still another table, and a long- suffering waitress, the two couples strike up an acquaintance

In Act Two, a month later, they, along with Ellen, the waitress from the restaurant and a would-be actress, and May, the bag lady, assemble at Stephen's beach house, determined to make some sense out of their lives and to overcome the alienation and sense of purposelessness which they all share

Inevitably, this leads to a series of very funny yet affecting incidents in which various relationships, non - relationships, mistaken motives and often shaky alliances are cleverly set forth and examined

A critical and popular success at New York's famed Manhattan Theatre Club, this celebrated play went on to become a Broadway hit as well.

REVIEWS

"For anyone who has been waiting for a play that tells what it is like to be more or less middle - class, more or less young and more or less well in a frightening city at this moment in this time zone, Eastern Standard at long last is it" ~ NY Times