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Fifth of July
A group of friends who came of age in the sixties have a reunion in an old Missouri farmhouse, where their reminiscences reveal shattered hopes, buried resentments, lost dreams, and the unhealed trauma of the Vietnam War.
86 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Lanford Wilson
52 books26 followersLanford Wilson was an American playwright, considered one of the founders of the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 26, 2013
I saw this amazing play on Broadway early in 1981 with Christopher Reeve, Jeff Daniels, Swoosie Kurtz, and Amy Wright.
Lanford Wilson will have to slug it out with Sam Shepard for Best American Playwright of the last quarter of the 20th Century.
Lanford Wilson will have to slug it out with Sam Shepard for Best American Playwright of the last quarter of the 20th Century.
June 5, 2017
This play bored the living life out of me.
November 18, 2013
...meh.
For a training actor, this work has place as a useful vehicle for ensemble work, and there are one or two wildly separated good dramatic moments, but as an active work of current theatre? Its moment has come and gone, I think. And in that moment, in 1980 -- when the avocado ugliness of the 1970s had yet to yield to the harsh neon personality of 80s, leading to a ugly hybrid of historical utter insignificance between either decade -- it /did/ say something. A Pulitzer Prize-winning something.
It tells the story of four has-been 60s activists some fifteen years after their hey-day. One of the four is a gay Vietnam vet, which might have been edgy when they play was written in 1977, but he comes across now as a cliche-ridden queen. His compatriots are equally tired and I just don't know what a post-2000 audience is to make of this sort: the idea that disillusionment isn't unique to Generation X is a weak premise to revive a show.
Oh well: not everything stands the test of time, but your play is kind of fucked when any random episode from the first season of The Facts of Life is not just more endearing and entertaining, but wears better, too.
For a training actor, this work has place as a useful vehicle for ensemble work, and there are one or two wildly separated good dramatic moments, but as an active work of current theatre? Its moment has come and gone, I think. And in that moment, in 1980 -- when the avocado ugliness of the 1970s had yet to yield to the harsh neon personality of 80s, leading to a ugly hybrid of historical utter insignificance between either decade -- it /did/ say something. A Pulitzer Prize-winning something.
It tells the story of four has-been 60s activists some fifteen years after their hey-day. One of the four is a gay Vietnam vet, which might have been edgy when they play was written in 1977, but he comes across now as a cliche-ridden queen. His compatriots are equally tired and I just don't know what a post-2000 audience is to make of this sort: the idea that disillusionment isn't unique to Generation X is a weak premise to revive a show.
Oh well: not everything stands the test of time, but your play is kind of fucked when any random episode from the first season of The Facts of Life is not just more endearing and entertaining, but wears better, too.
August 13, 2012
"Fifth of July" certainly will have a very special significance to those of us who were young adults in the 70s. Yet, I think that what it has to say about love, facing adversity, family, growing up, and growing old will fall on receptive ears of sensitive hearts and souls for some time to come. Structurally, the work is a masterpiece. While taking place within a two day time frame, the pertinent histories of the relationships and characters are revealed as needed through the amazingly believable and agile dialogue. Two of the central characters are a long-time committed male couple. Wilson's portrayal and treatment of them is awesome and very matter-of-fact. They just happen to be gay.
The Broadway Theater Archive series adapted it to film in 1982. The cast includes Richard Thomas, Jeff Daniels, Swoosie Kurtz, a very young Cynthia Nixon, and Jonathan Hogan. It is directed by Marshall Mason, who was the definitive interpreter of Wilson's works. I highly recommend it.
The Broadway Theater Archive series adapted it to film in 1982. The cast includes Richard Thomas, Jeff Daniels, Swoosie Kurtz, a very young Cynthia Nixon, and Jonathan Hogan. It is directed by Marshall Mason, who was the definitive interpreter of Wilson's works. I highly recommend it.
January 24, 2013
Just a great play. I was in it in college but haven't revisited it since. I still marvel at how subtlety Wilson creates the multi-faceted relationships between these characters--it's like we have known them forever.
November 28, 2010
Second Act is better than the first. Play could be cut by thirty pages.
July 4, 2019
Interesting characters and well-developed dialogue recommend this sitting-room drama. It is comforting to read that everyone has good & bad, on-going & unresolved circumstances in their lives.
February 4, 2018
Great play. Hopefully one day I'll get to see a production of it.
I thought I remembered a commercial for it back in the early '80s during which a female character said, "I'm not hungry, I'll just pick," then proceeded to take her fork and jab at food on the plate of the person next to her, and sloppily push it into her mouth. Apparently that line is nowhere in the play.
As I was reading, I guessed that it was Gwen who said it. Maybe I just confused it with another play.
I thought I remembered a commercial for it back in the early '80s during which a female character said, "I'm not hungry, I'll just pick," then proceeded to take her fork and jab at food on the plate of the person next to her, and sloppily push it into her mouth. Apparently that line is nowhere in the play.
As I was reading, I guessed that it was Gwen who said it. Maybe I just confused it with another play.
June 7, 2011
Definitely my favorite play with a central gay couple whose sexuality is never commented upon. It's so satisfying and engaging and warm; I'd love to see it staged.
June 11, 2012
Saving grace at the very end.
June 6, 2013
Read with Portland Playreaders
August 8, 2013
Another great play from Lanford Wilson.
Part of a trilogy.
Start with Tally's Folly.
Part of a trilogy.
Start with Tally's Folly.
October 23, 2018
Loved it. Read a long time ago as well as watched the movie of the play. Still have lines I say from this.
July 14, 2014
In Missouri, there is life after war, and it can be good. I like Wilson's writing.
December 30, 2015
dated but still would like to see it on stage
March 8, 2016
A wonderful ensemble piece, perhaps Wilson's best play. Aging hippies look back in anger (and laughter). Very entertaining, poignant writing.
December 9, 2017
Only made it to Act 1 which was a struggle because this play is garbage.
June 26, 2018
Fantastic script!
July 6, 2018
An acrobatic piece of writing. Realist dialogue hides the truth under the banal. A great read and a great play!
September 22, 2018
dnf. i was so bored
September 23, 2020
There are a few beautiful moments of clarity here, but overall I am having difficulty understanding. I think I need to read it again.
November 19, 2024
"You've no idea of the country we almost made for you. The fact that I think it's all a crock now does not take away from what we almost achieved."I haven't revisited this play in quite awhile, until now. Funny what time can do, how you can sometimes lean to a reassessment. This is a play that should be better than it is.
I took another look at it cause I was studying ensemble-cast structure. In this play, 4 males and 4 females (some related, some old friends) are pretty much bouncing off of each other from start to finish. There's almost nothing by way of 2-character scenes, but there's a lot of 'sliding off' interplay, much like near-stranger exchanges in a bus terminal (or at least that's how it feels; much of it is superficial).
You're likely to feel throughout most of its length that the play isn't much about anything... until it gains some sudden momentum as it begins to draw to its conclusion. The conclusion is somewhat explosive (featuring some excellent writing suddenly) - which is a hint to the actor playing the sort-of-closeted bisexual (John) that he sure better play a lot of duplicitous subtext before his true character is ultimately revealed.
The gay male couple underwhelm and we sort of wonder why they're a couple (at least I did). The quieter half (Jed, described as "dull as dishwater, but he's so butch!") seems unable to talk about anything but flowers and hedges. A few other characters can frustrate by feeling either one-note (Shirley, Wes) or underdeveloped (Kenneth to a degree, June).
Best realized are Aunt Sally (who's allowed some lovely variation and color) and especially 'Copper Queen' Gwen (given a freewheeling range of insecurities and complexity).
In retrospect, it's unfortunate that the play's sub-theme of '60s counterculture is much less potent than, say, Robert Patrick's 'Kennedy's Children'. (The latter has several characters speaking, by turn, in vacuums, in a bar. Wilson could have made a nice balance by serving up more than his group's peripheral-snapshot memories. The '60s was a very vibrant time; here, it's slightly echoed when a more vivid picture could have been appreciated.)
Some of the play's observations are quite smart. Some of the jokes are fun; a number of them don't really land.
I saw the play's original production in NYC. It was... ok; some in the cast could have been better. But the larger issue is the play itself. Decidedly there's potential within it. As is, it's not surprising that I never notice it being revived anywhere.
July 28, 2025
When I read "The Downtown Pop Underground" last month, I was exposed to some of the major players in New York's art scene of the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies. Some figures I was well familiar with (Warhol, the Velvet Underground, CBGB's, etc.), while other names were unfamiliar to me. One of those "new to me" names was Lanford Wilson, who was an Off-Off-Broadway playwright dealing with LGBTQ themes in his plays. When I finished the book, I recalled seeing a play of his on the shelf at my local library's book sale, and so the next time I went, I picked it up.
"5th of July" is a lot of things: it's a very chatty, humorous, and engaging story of a family and friend group coming together to discuss, ostensibly, the selling of a house. But the conversation takes off on tangents related to the past and the possible future of the friend group, lifelong pals whose bonds go deeper than just friendship. At the center is Ken, a wounded Vietnam vet who lives in the house now with his partner, Jed. The year is 1977, and Ken's former friends John and Gwen (now married and wealthy) are in town, spending time with Ken, Jed, Ken's sister and niece (June and Shirley, respectively), and Aunt Sally. There's also Weston, a musician along for the ride with John and Gwen. Together they mark the holiday with wit, confession, anger, and ultimately a sense of mourning for what once was, while looking to the future with some sense of promise.
This is a very chatty play, almost entirely about dialogue, which is fine. As a first time of reading Wilson's work, it is a bit confusing at first, almost launching us into the story in media res. But I got my bearings soon enough, and the wit on display (as well as the emotion) is fun. And the emotions are earned; we get a sense that the connections between Ken, John and Gwen are still strong, even if they seem to be frayed. It's an entertaining play, and one that isn't afraid to tackle some issues of the post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan Revolution culture in America.
"5th of July" is an unexpected gem of a find for me personally, one that I wouldn't have had on my radar if not for "Downtown Pop Underground." I love when one book leads me to another.
"5th of July" is a lot of things: it's a very chatty, humorous, and engaging story of a family and friend group coming together to discuss, ostensibly, the selling of a house. But the conversation takes off on tangents related to the past and the possible future of the friend group, lifelong pals whose bonds go deeper than just friendship. At the center is Ken, a wounded Vietnam vet who lives in the house now with his partner, Jed. The year is 1977, and Ken's former friends John and Gwen (now married and wealthy) are in town, spending time with Ken, Jed, Ken's sister and niece (June and Shirley, respectively), and Aunt Sally. There's also Weston, a musician along for the ride with John and Gwen. Together they mark the holiday with wit, confession, anger, and ultimately a sense of mourning for what once was, while looking to the future with some sense of promise.
This is a very chatty play, almost entirely about dialogue, which is fine. As a first time of reading Wilson's work, it is a bit confusing at first, almost launching us into the story in media res. But I got my bearings soon enough, and the wit on display (as well as the emotion) is fun. And the emotions are earned; we get a sense that the connections between Ken, John and Gwen are still strong, even if they seem to be frayed. It's an entertaining play, and one that isn't afraid to tackle some issues of the post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan Revolution culture in America.
"5th of July" is an unexpected gem of a find for me personally, one that I wouldn't have had on my radar if not for "Downtown Pop Underground." I love when one book leads me to another.
July 4, 2023
Anyone who knows me knows my relationship to this work... ;)
But upon rereading, I do have more of an appreciation for it. It's hard to separate experience and situation with the text itself, but there are funny moments here. It does snap and crackle sometimes. I still think next to nothing happens, and maybe not in the Linklaterian vibe way, but I could see it existing there, at least much more strongly, for an older generation. I do always love the idea of people, separated by place and time, all descending upon a central location to hash things out. I like Act I taking place in the evening, flowing into Act II the following morning. The implication of the title makes the entirety of Act I feel like set-up, which is less than ideal, but also necessary because of the structure created here.
The script can get incredibly awkward and clunky at times, with the slang being drilled down and double downed on, and can often be sporadic, but I guess this is Wilson's version of what I think Anne Washburn does much more successfully, aiming to recreate a more natural and true to life pattern of speaking on stage.
Whew... crazy how when you do a show almost a decade ago, you can still hear the exact tone and inflection of certain lines said by both you and the cast. A little ghost show that lives in me, whether I want it to or not ;-)
But upon rereading, I do have more of an appreciation for it. It's hard to separate experience and situation with the text itself, but there are funny moments here. It does snap and crackle sometimes. I still think next to nothing happens, and maybe not in the Linklaterian vibe way, but I could see it existing there, at least much more strongly, for an older generation. I do always love the idea of people, separated by place and time, all descending upon a central location to hash things out. I like Act I taking place in the evening, flowing into Act II the following morning. The implication of the title makes the entirety of Act I feel like set-up, which is less than ideal, but also necessary because of the structure created here.
The script can get incredibly awkward and clunky at times, with the slang being drilled down and double downed on, and can often be sporadic, but I guess this is Wilson's version of what I think Anne Washburn does much more successfully, aiming to recreate a more natural and true to life pattern of speaking on stage.
Whew... crazy how when you do a show almost a decade ago, you can still hear the exact tone and inflection of certain lines said by both you and the cast. A little ghost show that lives in me, whether I want it to or not ;-)
July 18, 2025
Wilson presents us with a quirky, motley crew of family & childhood friends. Though set 15 years after the VietNam War, this story is not really about the war. Certainly, Kenny has suffered terribly from his time in the military, having lost both legs, but the betrayal exposed in Act II is devastating. In the 70s, John, Gwen, June, & Ken had grand plans of running off to live in Europe to escape the US. John & Gwen departed a week before the scheduled agreed upon date, leaving Ken behind. Now, 15 years later they're back and Gwen claims to want to buy Ken's home & farm, but it just might not happen. The 4th of July is a dud, but the 5th of July brings the realization that there was nothing much there in the first place.
April 23, 2019
I was drawn to this Wilson work because I liked the title, however it wasn’t as electrifying to me as Burn This. The characters were wonderful; just wanted a little more action I suppose. I’m excited to continue reading more of Wilson’s works.
May 16, 2019
I thought I was going to love this. I was wrong. This play in the book club version was terrible.
So strange since I loved Uncle Richard’s production of this many years ago.
So strange since I loved Uncle Richard’s production of this many years ago.
November 12, 2019
This was fine. It didn't wow me. All the characters seem cute enough.
May 13, 2020
other play another dud, I don't like them did this for a challenge
November 4, 2023
Read this with the other two plays in the Talley Trilogy. The sum of the three plays together is definitely greater than the individual parts.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews