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The Late Great Henry Boyle is an enchanting new play by emerging Livonia playwright, David MacGregor. In this charming love story, we meet the endearingly befuddled Henry Boyle, an intensely sincere and private professor of medieval studies recently ditched by his wife. A complete social misfit who doesn't even watch television, Boyle camps out in his tiny office and tries to rebuild his familiar and comfortable life. With the encouragement of his colleague, Dr. Winslow Saxonhouse, Boyle develops an impressive absinthe habit and writes a novel that inexplicably makes him an overnight pop culture sensation. Despite his psychotic ex-military literary agent, intense media scrutiny and recurring hallucinations about giant rodents, a chance meeting with a damsel named Rachel just might be the only thing that can pull Boyle back from the edge.
Originally titled Mainstream, The Late Great Henry Boyle was first presented as a staged reading by Heartlande Theatre for the 1999 TreeTown Theatre Festival, Performance Network's summer guest season. In 2001, the script was selected as one of eleven finalists for the prestigious Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2002, The Late Great Henry Boyle received its first professional production at Timothy Busfield's The B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California.
The Late Great Henry Boyle was underwritten by THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION (of Rita & Peter Heydon).
Directed by Guy Sanville
Featuring:
Randall Godwin
Paul Hopper
John Lepard
Wayne David Parker
Inga R. Wilson
Stage Manager: Amy Hickman
Set Designer: Daniel C. Walker
Properties Designer: Danna Segrest
Costume Designer: Darcy Elora Hofer
Lighting Designer: Dana White
Sound Designer: Quintessa Gallinat
THREE STARS out of four stars
"(John) Lepard navigates Boyle's journey brilliantly... making the subtle performance a powerhouse... 'Late' (and director Guy Sanville) expertly
strikes a balance between comedy and drama."
"The Bottom Line: Yet another in a long string of top-notch productions at the Purple Rose!"
"funny and touching... John Lepard invests Boyle with a disheveled angularity that's both pathetic and endearing, and director Guy Sanville shapes
the proceedings with the surest touch."
"From start to finish, a funny, enchanting, well-acted and well-written treat."