The nonagenarian chronicler of fading Americana has passed away. Horton Foote, author of more than 60 plays and several screenplays, died in Hartford, Connecticut, at the age of 92. His most recent work was Dividing the Estate, which we had the pleasure to see Off Broadway and on. Most of Foote’s plays obsessively charted the streets of the small Texas town of Harrison. It was his Dublin, his Yoknapatawpha County, his St. Petersburg.
Foote truly was the American Chekhov, a patient and wryly empathetic observer of all-too-human characters trying and failing to adapt in an ever-changing world. He may not have been a stylistic path-seeker, but Foote’s ear for dialogue and dry sense of humor brought life to the stage.
Nine of his works made it to Broadway. His screenplays include To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies.
Foote’s nine-play collection, The Orphans’ Home Cycle, will be presented as Hartford Stage’s 2009–10 season. No better way to honor a great man of the theater.
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