THE STORY: THE LYONS starts in a hospital room. As Ben Lyons lies dying, his wife of forty years, Rita, flips through decorating magazines, planning a living room make-over. "I know you won’t actually be there to enjoy it, but I’d like to think you’d like it." It’s clear Ben and Rita have been at war for many years, and that Ben’s impending demise has brought no relief. When they’re joined by their children, Lisa and Curtis, all efforts at a pleasant visit or a sentimental goodbye to the dying patriarch are soon abandoned. Terrible secrets and vicious accusations replace sentimental memories.
In Act Two we follow Curtis. His desperate attempt to make a new connection ends so disastrously that the remaining Lyons are reunited at the hospital. We watch as each of them take the first tentative steps toward new human connection.
“Hilariously frank, clear-sighted, compassionate and forgiving…laughter that rises in close and regular waves…Sure, from a distance the title characters of THE LYONS…are hilarious as they kick the ego out of one another. But look at them close—no, closer—and you’re likely to find an intimate mirror of your own frightened self…Welcome to Broadway at last, Mr. Silver. And might I add that that this cozy-but-nasty family portrait is just the right vehicle to bring you here?” —The New York Times.
“Silver’s humor is mordant, dark and rich. He’s a writer who knows all too well the unsaid hurt that can infect families.” —Associated Press.
“Black-comedy perfection.” —The Hollywood Reporter.
“Silver’s in top form…As comedy about death, THE LYONS isn’t trying to make a case for freshness or formal innovation. It’s simply trying tell a funny, furious little tale of family annihilation with honesty, savagery, and humanity, a story about how we all, ultimately, pick out our own urns. It succeeds marvelously.” —New York Magazine.
“Smart and funny and moving.” —New York Observer.
