Abundance is a drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning Beth Henley. The play had it's World Premiere at the South Coast Repertory in Los Angeles in April of 1989. This production was directed by Ron Lagomarsino and featured Belita Moreno and O-Lan Jones. The play had it's Off-Broadway premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club in October of 1990. This production was also directed by Lagomarsino and featured Tony Award-winner Amanda Plummer and Tess Harper.
Abundance was revived Off-Broadway by The Actors Company Theatre in February of 2015 to great acclaim. Directed by Jenn Thompson and featuring Tracy Middendorf and Kelly McAndrew, this production was named a "Critics' Pick" by The New York Times and won the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival.
A "Revisionist Western," the play traces the lives of Macon and Bess, two mail-order brides, over a twenty-five-year journey across the American frontier, celebrating a lifelong friendship resilient enough to endure a kidnapping, a series of extraordinary hardships, and unwanted marriages.
Set in the Wyoming Territory beginning in the 1860s, Abundance follows two mail-order brides, Macon Hill and Bess Johnson, who travel west to marry men they have never met. The women meet while waiting for their respective husbands and quickly form a close bond, united by their shared hopes for new lives on the frontier. After marriage, they settle on neighboring homesteads, but their expectations of romance and prosperity are undermined by the harsh realities of frontier life. Macon, the more pragmatic and spirited of the two, marries the mild-mannered Will Curtis, while the romantic and idealistic Bess is paired with the domineering and often abusive Jack Flan. Both marriages prove disappointing for the women, marked by hardship and isolation.
As the years pass, the women endure failed crops, poverty and personal losses, and their friendship becomes a source of strength and tension. A turning point occurs when Bess disappears and is presumed to have been abducted while traveling alone. Her absence profoundly affects Macon, who struggles to survive and eventually makes morally compromising choices that strain her loyalty to her friend. Years later, Bess reappears, having survived captivity, and becomes a subject of public fascination. Her story is transformed into a sensational narrative, and she gains financial success by recounting her experiences on the lecture circuit. However, this new found "abundance" proves hollow, as her story is shaped by public expectation rather than truth.
Meanwhile, Macon's life deteriorates as she daces economic hardship and the collapse of her marriage. The contrasting fortunes of the two women create resentment and emotional distance, intensified by revelations of past betrayal. In later years, after Bess's fame declines, the two women reunite. Confronting the passage of time and the consequences of their choices, they reconcile and rediscover the enduring bonds of their friendship. The play concludes with a quiet recognition that, despite the illusions of wealth and grandeur, their relationship remains the most meaningful constant in their lives.
Abundance had its World Premiere at South Coast Repertory in Los Angeles, CA, running from April 21 through May 25, 1989. Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, the cast consisted of Belita Moreno, O-Lan Jones, Bruce Wright, Jimmie Ray Weeks, and John Walcutt. The creative team included Adrianne Lobel (sets), Robert Wojewodski (costumes), Paulie Jenkins (lights), and Michael Roth (original music & sound).
Abundance was produced Off-Broadway by Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center from October 4 through November 25, 1990. Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, the cast consisted of Amanda Plummer, Tess Harper, Michael Rooker, Lanny Flaherty, and Keith Reddin. The creative team included Adrianne Lobel (sets), Robert Wojewodski (costumes), Paulie Jenkins (lights), and Michael Roth (original music & sound).
Abundance was revived Off-Broadway by The Actors Company Theatre at the Samuel Beckett Theatre from February 17 through March 28, 2015. Directed by Jenn Thompson, the cast consisted of Tracy Middendorf, Kelly McAndrew, Todd Lawson, Ted Koch, and Jeff Talbott. The creative team included Wilson Chin (sets), Tracy Christensen (costumes), Philip S. Rosenberg (lights), and Toby Jaguar Algya (original music & sound).
The play's Off-Broadway revival with The Actors Company Theatre received critical acclaim.
Laura Collins-Hughes, in a review from The New York Times, named the play a "Critic's Pick", stating
TheaterMania praised the production writing,
David Barbour of Lighting & Sound America was equally effusive, noting