About the Show

Playwright Sam Hunter ("The Whale," "Lewiston/Clarkston") returns to Lincoln Center for this new drama set in an Idaho mining colony.

From the show:

GREATER CLEMENTS, takes place in the fictional town of Greater Clements, Idaho, a mining community where properties are being purchased by wealthy out-of-state people, forcing out lifelong residents — largely blue-collar workers — who are becoming disenfranchised and disenchanted. But all of that is in the subtext; it isn’t hammered on the head. The story is told through Maggie, played by the marvelous Judith Ivey. Maggie is on the verge of shutting down her family’s Mine Tour and Museum business. Her troubled adult son, has moved back home, recovering but unmoored. As the play opens, Maggie awaits a visit from an old friend. He brings a tempting offer to start a new life with him beyond this desolate town’s limits. Through the author’s quirky humor, keen observation and deep sensitivity to these idiosyncratic characters, we see just how hard it might be to leave the past behind.

Critic Reviews (20)

"‘Greater Clements,’ the Tragedy of a Town that Closed: Samuel D. Hunter’s creaky play about the downsizing of the American West features terrific performances by Judith Ivey and Edmund Donovan."
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5 Stars. "Chekhovian in spirit but utterly modern in its concerns, Greater Clements is suffused with Hunter's signature combination of gentleness and despair...The play is nearly three hours long. It's not boring for a moment, though, because it is so rich with nuance and quiet dread."
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"'Greater Clements,' a Small-Town Drama Where the Town’s Disappearing"
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"Samuel D. Hunter’s new play, now at Lincoln Center with stage legend Judith Ivey, dives deep – literally."
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"Judith Ivey and Edmund Donovan play a single mother and her troubled son in a dying Idaho mining town in MacArthur Fellowship recipient Samuel D. Hunter's elegiac drama."
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"‘Greater Clements’ is the best new play of the year"
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"An American Town Dissolves and a Family Struggles to Remain Solid in 'Greater Clements': Judith Ivey and Edmund Donovan star in Samuel D. Hunter's latest drama."
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"Judith Ivey and Edmund Donovan Extraordinary in Samuel D. Hunter's 'GREATER CLEMENTS'"
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Trailer

Creative team

Lincoln Center Theater