Goodbye Freddy

Hank and Kate were childhood sweethearts whose apparently idyllic relationship has proceeded uninterrupted through the years. Andy and Nessa were childhood sweethearts also, but are now divorced and living in New York

He's a successful advertising executive; she's the author of a bestselling roman â clef based on her friends' lives. Paul is the new Undersecretary for Eastern Affairs in Washington

His wife, Alice, is the only one who has not known the others since grammar school is a housewife obsessed with the many infidelities she imagines Paul has committed

Hovering over them all is the spirit of Freddy, the only admitted homosexual in the group. As the liquor flows and memories, and recriminations, become more telling, Hank, in an emotional outburst, admits that he had been having an affair with Freddy for years prior to his death

Kate is overwhelmed by this revelation, the friends take sides and, as the night winds down into morning, facades are stripped away as no-holds-barred truth-telling replaces the party atmosphere with which the evening began

In the end Hank and Kate agree to strive for a more honest relationship, and the others, each in his or her own way affected by the absent Freddy, resolve to use the legacy of directness and honesty which he left themto set their own lives on firmer paths

Produced with great success by the South Coast Repertory Company in Los Angeles where it won the Foundation for the Dramatists Guild/CBS Award

This arresting play - which draws comparisonswith The Big Chill, moves from high comedy to explosive drama as it examines the jarring yet sometimes hilarious revelations which come out when five childhood friends are reunited for the funeral of a sixth

"Her well-observed characters are likeable, interesting people with witty tongues in their heads, and their emotional scuffles over issues of love and friendship have real value" - NY Post