Middle of the Night

by Paddy Chayefsky

Drama / 3 male, 8 female Interior Edward G. Robinson starred on Broadway with Gena Rowlands in this May-December romance. He is an over-50 dress manufacturer and she a 20-ish young bride. When they meet and begin an affair, their love creates a dynamic fissure among the respective families as the 'real world' looks on in disapproval.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Theatre, Audiobook

86 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay.

He was considered one of the most renowned dramatists of the so-called Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, and he was regarded as the central figure in the "kitchen sink realism" movement of American television.

Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky continued to succeed as a playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). Marty was based on his own television drama about a relationship between two lonely people finding love. Network was his scathing satire of the television industry and The Hospital was considered satiric.

Chayefsky's early stories were notable for their dialogue, their depiction of second-generation Americans and their sentiment and humor. They were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in the Bronx. The protagonists were generally middle-class tradesmen struggling with personal problems: loneliness, pressures to conform or their own emotions.

Chayefsky died in New York City of cancer in August 1981 at the age of 58.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I want to be loved by a woman. And that want dies hard. When you give up that want, it's a very painful thing.

Wow, what an incredible play. This one had me hanging on every word until the final page.

Apparently, Chayefsky's writing focuses on 'realism', and the human condition, which is very evidently portrayed here in each of the myriad of broken people inhabiting this story. The story centers on the sudden blossoming romance between a 56 year old business owner, and his 24 year old receptionist, each of them searching for an elusive spark that their lives appear to be devoid of, his wife having passed, and her un-fulfilling marriage to a distant, fame-seeking piano player. They are each aware of the number of reasons why such a romance should not exist, though logic and reason are but minor powers before the pure might of love. Before long they find themselves becoming attached while the families around them challenge their desires.

The themes of love, hope, ambition, dreams, and life's driving forces are at the very heart of Middle of the Night, and form a contextual war zone for the romance between The Manufacturer and The Girl. What is the cost of hope? Of love? How far will we go to obtain the things that make us feel alive? Is it realistic to pursue such feelings? It seems that the world, the passing of time, and the societal norms and pressures we are saturated in seem to slowly erode our hopes and dreams until we become hollowed out shells of conformity who grasp desperately at the things we used to desire and never got around to doing. Chaefsky explores each of these questions in minute detail and leaves us with a satisfying conclusion, perhaps asking each of us how we pursue our dreams in the process.

The title itself portrays the hardships of its characters: the hopelessness of being lost in a darkness of loneliness which you can't escape on your own, adrift in the blanket of night itself. Joy may come in the morning, though if you can find another adrift on the sea of moonlit angst perhaps the star light will never shine so beautifully, or so bright.

"I'd go out for a walk, except it's snowing so much."

[César OG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una hermosa interpretación de la cotidianidad y los problemas que pueden presentarse en la vida. En este caso la duda sobre cuál es el límite de diferencia de edad que debe de tener una pareja.

Tierno, dramático y ligeramente gracioso ante cualquier adversidad, como es la vida. Los personajes principales a pesar de su diferencia de edad son ambos adultos con albedrío y la sabiduría necesaria para enfrentar sus miedos. Algunos de los personajes pasan por alto, pero el desarrollo y el cambio de los protagonistas está bien definido, es coherente, maduro, pero sobre todo indómito (la neta googleé esa última palabra, pero creo que es la que mejor queda).

El individuo es responsable de establecer sus límites ante la sociedad, y es libre de encontrar la felicidad bajo sus propios términos, equivocarse, y reconocerlo, carajo.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I feel that something inside me is dying right now. You know what it is? I want to be loved by a woman. And that want dies hard. When you give up that want, it’s a very painful thing to go through.”

L.A. Theatre Works’ 2002 production of Middle of the Night is very good. While it was clearly performed in front of a live audience—you can hear the crowd’s reactions—the play appears to have been adapted with audio presentation in mind. Paddy Chayefsky’s storyline is easy to follow. He was one of America’s greatest screenwriters and playwrights, and the story is realistic and deeply honest about human relationships. While I tend to scoff at older men who enter relationships with young women, the romance between Jerry and Betty is depicted in a heartfelt way.

Interestingly, Chayefsky wrote Middle of the Night for three different mediums. It was first a television play produced by The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1954, then he adapted it into a Broadway stage play in 1956, and then adapted it into a feature film in 1959. This 2002 production appears to have been based on the stage play.




[Image: Book Cover]

Citation:
Chayefsky, P. (Writer), & Robinson, S.K. (Director). (2002). Middle of the night (Audio Play). L.A. Theatre Works. https://www.audible.com/pd/Middle-of-.... (Original work published 1956).

Title: Middle of the Night
Author(s): Paddy Chayefsky
Year: 2002 (recording), play first published in 1956 and was adapted from Chayefsky’s 1954 teleplay of the same name
Genre: Fiction - Stage Play
Length: 1 hour & 33 minutes
Date(s) read: 3/31/26 - 4/1/26
Book 65 in 2026

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this play in college in preparation for a scene study, and reading it again now has brought some clarity with it that I didn't grasp the first time. Something singularly unique about this play is that despite the characters having their own names and identities, they are only listed as their individual roles in how they are viewed by the audience and the other characters onstage. The Girl. The Manufacturer. The Sister. The Daughter. The Mother. The Neighbor. The Son-In-Law. These are titles that hold no humanity in them, and despite knowing that we are watching "Betty" and "Jerry" and "Marilyn," there's no personal connection between the reader and these characters because the names are nothing more than dialogue rather than identifiers. The story, too, has its moments of high tension but it lacked action. Perhaps that could be taken up with in direction and staging, but as it is, there is little more than dialogue that goes between characters. Even Betty (The Girl) and George (The Husband) are only ever implied to have a tumultuous relationship, but not shown. All in all, it's interesting and grounded in a way that felt relatable to modern day relationships, but decidedly not my favorite by far.

[Zac Stojcevski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever, tender and genuine look at the frailty of love and marriage in the context of judgment - no one is in a position to throw stones, much as they’d like. Quaintly we’re led to believe that love will prosper despite doubters.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay play with some humorous lines and some good jokes. I won't remember it in another month except that it had Elliot Gould.

[Mahayana Dugast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great play, I love Paddy Chayefsky's work, my favorite is "Altered States" which I picked for my literature exams (high school) many decades ago.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Manufacturer is a 53 year old widower who is lonely. The Girl is the 25 year old unsatisfied receptionist there. They fall in love. They have families who object. But it’s Paddy Chayefsky and well worth reading, and I think worth doing by the community theater with which I hang my costumes. Edward G. Robinson played the Manufacturer and Gena Rowlands the Girl in 1956 on Broadway. It was revived last year on Broadway.

I read this play in The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky: The Stage Plays. I also read “The Latent Homosexual” - which I was able to imagine amazing with Zero Mostel, but without Zero Mostel and now is just dated. “Gideon,” took place in ancient Israel and I did not care for it. I requested this book from Interlibrary loan.

[Glenn Hopp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Low-keyed, strong, honest play from the 1950s (first a TV script, then a play, finally a film). The audio version with Elliot Gould is faithful to the play and effective. As I recall, the movie adds a scene at a roadhouse where the May-December couple goes to escape their families. What a great writer Chayefsky was.

[Alison Strother · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worthy of a chuckle or two, nice change listening to a play.