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Between Riverside and Crazy
Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Written with humor, tenderness, grit and wonderment, Between Riverside and Crazy is an extraordinary new a dark comedy about a man trying to maintain control as the world unravels around him.
Written with humor, tenderness, grit and wonderment, Between Riverside and Crazy is an extraordinary new a dark comedy about a man trying to maintain control as the world unravels around him.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2015
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733 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Adly Guirgis
16Ìýbooks84ÌýfollowersStephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, as well as in the UK. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
March 7, 2022
“Even cops hate cops. Everybody especially don’t like black cops. Black civilians think we Uncle Tom. White civilians think we’re uppity."
Between Riverside and Crazy ~~ Stephen Adly Guirgis
One of my reading goals in 2017 is to read new, contemporary plays. Stephen Adly Guirgis, is one of the playwrights I have focused on. I have not been disappointed. Guirgis writes the everyman character better than anyone since Arthur Miller. The difference is that Guirgis has an ability to write humorously that Miller lacked. Guirgis is able to step back from it all and see the irony in the situations he creates.
Still holding onto the memory of his recently deceased wife and a long-standing racially charged lawsuit against the NYPD, ex-cop Walter “Pops� Washington is not one to forgive and forget. Day in and day out, he rules the roost in the impressive rent-controlled apartment that he shares with his parolee son and surrogate family. But, eviction notices and ultimatums are piling up, and Pops soon becomes caught between losing his honor and losing his home.
I have been a fan of Guirgis� for many years ~~ since I first read Jesus Hopped the ‘A� Train. Guirgis challenged me in ways other playwrights did not ~~ he took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to open my eyes to the urban landscape I lived in at the time. Guirgis is a true poet and his plays are lyrical in a way that most playwrights only aspire to.
I do not want to give anything away about this play which deservedly won the 2015 Pulitzer. Between Riverside and Crazy is a brilliant work; not only is it a terrific piece of theatre, but it is a satisfying read in a way that many plays are not.
Between Riverside and Crazy ~~ Stephen Adly Guirgis
One of my reading goals in 2017 is to read new, contemporary plays. Stephen Adly Guirgis, is one of the playwrights I have focused on. I have not been disappointed. Guirgis writes the everyman character better than anyone since Arthur Miller. The difference is that Guirgis has an ability to write humorously that Miller lacked. Guirgis is able to step back from it all and see the irony in the situations he creates.
Still holding onto the memory of his recently deceased wife and a long-standing racially charged lawsuit against the NYPD, ex-cop Walter “Pops� Washington is not one to forgive and forget. Day in and day out, he rules the roost in the impressive rent-controlled apartment that he shares with his parolee son and surrogate family. But, eviction notices and ultimatums are piling up, and Pops soon becomes caught between losing his honor and losing his home.
I have been a fan of Guirgis� for many years ~~ since I first read Jesus Hopped the ‘A� Train. Guirgis challenged me in ways other playwrights did not ~~ he took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to open my eyes to the urban landscape I lived in at the time. Guirgis is a true poet and his plays are lyrical in a way that most playwrights only aspire to.
I do not want to give anything away about this play which deservedly won the 2015 Pulitzer. Between Riverside and Crazy is a brilliant work; not only is it a terrific piece of theatre, but it is a satisfying read in a way that many plays are not.
November 14, 2023
Between Riverside and Crazy is much like other Guirgis plays. It’s gritty. It’s urban. It finds the comedic in the tragic. Where it differs is that it’s a play dominated by a single character. Instead of focusing on an ensemble, this play belongs to Walter “Pops� Washington, ex cop and recent widower. He dominates the play like Lear. It’s not that the other characters aren’t well drawn, but that their main purpose is to draw out and illustrate Walter’s many sides and complexities. All the action, every storyline, radiates out from and back to him. Walter Washington is Guirgis’s greatest character, and Between Riverside and Crazy is a play worthy of him.
February 8, 2016
This won the Pulitzer for Drama? Seriously? I've enjoyed previous Guirgis plays, but this was just a mess. I am assuming the only reason it won is because they were reluctant to give it to him for 'The Motherfucker With the Hat', which was a much, MUCH better play.
June 21, 2023
Between Riverside and Crazy is a play about a retired police officer who lives in a large apartment in New York with his son and some other people. He’s suing the city for shooting him eight years ago, but he faces many difficulties. The play is funny, moving, smart, and realistic. It explores issues like human relationships, social justice, and personal growth. The characters are complex and likable, especially the police officer. The dialogue is natural and witty. The play has surprises and conflicts, and the ending is unexpected but satisfying.
April 4, 2016
Please do yourself a favor and read this play. Stephen Adly Guirgis does an amazing job at capturing the urban element of New York and its inhabitants. I read this play in the course of a couple days when I had a lot of free time on my hands. This one was my 6th or 7th play during that time and it was the ONLY one that kept coming back to me. The characters, the setting, the dialog, EVERYTHING made me think. The only thing keeping this play from being a 5 star work for me is the sudden (not bad but not the best either) change of direction that was thrown in with the introduction of a new character in Act 2. But the more I think about it the more Riverside needed this character to come into the world. It makes the end, and especially the last line, that much more powerful.
June 27, 2016
The play is brilliant. A man opens his rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive to his son and various hangers-on. The man is an ex-cop and recent widower. He was shot one night - six bullets in his left buttock. He speaks of himself as an ex-cop, a war hero, a good samaritan. In fact, he's a mediocre specimen of humanity: often drunk, deeply flawed, potty-mouthed, and inadequate father. His own father was no role model, either. It's deliciously ironic that everyone calls him either "dad" or "Pops."
Pops is determined to be recompensed for injuries suffered in the line of duty. Unfortunately, the night he was shot, he wasn't on duty. In addition, he's been advised by his lawyers to underscore an epithet slung at him by the shooter that night: "nigger." At least that's the story that's been presented to the public.
What unfolds is a tale about maintaining dignity in the face of insurmountable obstacles. It's also about facades; every character in this play is, in fact, a con man (or woman) in one way or another. Yet only the man's two Jewish lawyers are dismissed as "shysters" - even though they turn out to be the only trustworthy (however unseen) members of the entourage.
Pops is determined to be recompensed for injuries suffered in the line of duty. Unfortunately, the night he was shot, he wasn't on duty. In addition, he's been advised by his lawyers to underscore an epithet slung at him by the shooter that night: "nigger." At least that's the story that's been presented to the public.
What unfolds is a tale about maintaining dignity in the face of insurmountable obstacles. It's also about facades; every character in this play is, in fact, a con man (or woman) in one way or another. Yet only the man's two Jewish lawyers are dismissed as "shysters" - even though they turn out to be the only trustworthy (however unseen) members of the entourage.
August 31, 2018
Finished: 31.08.2018
Genre: play
Rating: C
#20BooksOfAutumn
Conclusion:
Lavished with prizes in 2015 including Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this play left me entertained but not dazzled...in other words good but not great. The best plays I read this year were all by Australian female playwrights: Broken (M.A. Butler), Rice (M. Lee), The Drover's Wife (L. Purcell) and Do Not Go Gentle (P. Cornelius). Not all great theater comes from Broadway USA or the West End UK. Have a look "Down Under' !
Genre: play
Rating: C
#20BooksOfAutumn
Conclusion:
Lavished with prizes in 2015 including Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this play left me entertained but not dazzled...in other words good but not great. The best plays I read this year were all by Australian female playwrights: Broken (M.A. Butler), Rice (M. Lee), The Drover's Wife (L. Purcell) and Do Not Go Gentle (P. Cornelius). Not all great theater comes from Broadway USA or the West End UK. Have a look "Down Under' !
November 25, 2016
A brutal, honest, deceivingly deep play about modern difficulties with age, race, and brutality. It won the Pulitzer for good reason, and I still have to collect my thoughts.
December 2, 2016
Thematically arresting; deeply flawed characters would be a great acting challenge; some lovely wordsmithing. I'm just not sure how compelling it would be on stage.
Hopefully I will get a chance to see a production in my lifetime.
4/5
Hopefully I will get a chance to see a production in my lifetime.
4/5
September 1, 2021
This is good. The Pulitzer committee's taste will never make any sort of sense to me, but that doesn't make this a bad play. In fact, it's a good play, it's just not really special in any way. I enjoyed this, though. The central character is an absolute blast, and the sex scene that functions as the play's climax (ok it's not literally at the act break, but it's close to it) is marvelously theatrical.
January 20, 2022
This was interesting. Since it’s a play I think it would’ve had a bigger effect if I had watched in instead of reading it. I was definitely good, but I’m still trying to figure out its overall theme, which still puzzles me. However, it was absolutely hilarious.
June 3, 2023
Solid world building, characters, and dialogue. Left not feeling too much about it all tho…maybe 3.5 stars for this Pulitzer winner�
May 19, 2024
Bitter, old, drunk ex-cop finds redemption...of a sort. It's a wild ride. Best hang on because it isn't going to go the way you think.
December 19, 2015
Perhaps the biggest thing I miss about New York City is live theater. There is some in Las Vegas, but nothing like New York, where you can have your choice of probably 100 or more venues on a given night. I had been keeping up with the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but as with last year's The Flick, for the 2015 award winner, Between Riverside and Crazy, I have to make do with reading it.
The play was written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, who before this was best known as writing a play that had an unprintable title (The Motherfucker With the Hat). A man of Egyptian and Irish heritage, he wrote a play about a retired black cop living in a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive, besieged at all sides by an ex-con son who is still trafficking in stolen goods, the son's lollapalooza girlfriend, and his old partner, who has brought over her fiance to try to strong-arm him into settling a lawsuit against the police department.
The main character, Walter "Pops" Washington, is the best thing about the play, which otherwise has some creaks. I didn't seen Stephen McKinley Henderson, who played the role in New York, so I kept picturing the late Ossie Davis in the role. Pops is a great character, one that will be drooled over by black actors of a certain age for some time to come. He is garrulous, profane, belligerent, and drunk most of the time. He was wounded by another cop, shot six times, and has refused settlements, even though he was in a bar at six in the morning and off-duty. He tells it like it is, such as when he's told that his son's girlfriend is an accounting student: "That girl, she a nice girl, but she don't no accounting. Her lips move when she read the horoscope--that ain't the mark of a future accountant."
The central conflict of the play is the encounter between Pops and his old partner at the end of Act I, when truths come out like vermin climbing out of the walls (the apartment is described as being in ruins, including several piles of ancient dog shit). But I was disappointed in the beginning of Act II, when Pops meets with a woman from his departed wife's church. Known only as the "Church Lady" (no, not Dana Carvey), she's a Catholic but also member of a Brazilian cult like Santeria. There is a miraculous event that smacked of inaunthenticity and took the play in a direction that didn't maintain its tone.
The end of the play, when Pops gets the last laugh, was satisfactory, but on the whole I give this play three stars out of five. I would like to see it performed some day. What we who out in the hinterlands needs is for Fathom Events, who broadcast the Metropolitan Opera on movie screens, to do the same with New York stage productions.
The play was written by Stephen Adly Guirgis, who before this was best known as writing a play that had an unprintable title (The Motherfucker With the Hat). A man of Egyptian and Irish heritage, he wrote a play about a retired black cop living in a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive, besieged at all sides by an ex-con son who is still trafficking in stolen goods, the son's lollapalooza girlfriend, and his old partner, who has brought over her fiance to try to strong-arm him into settling a lawsuit against the police department.
The main character, Walter "Pops" Washington, is the best thing about the play, which otherwise has some creaks. I didn't seen Stephen McKinley Henderson, who played the role in New York, so I kept picturing the late Ossie Davis in the role. Pops is a great character, one that will be drooled over by black actors of a certain age for some time to come. He is garrulous, profane, belligerent, and drunk most of the time. He was wounded by another cop, shot six times, and has refused settlements, even though he was in a bar at six in the morning and off-duty. He tells it like it is, such as when he's told that his son's girlfriend is an accounting student: "That girl, she a nice girl, but she don't no accounting. Her lips move when she read the horoscope--that ain't the mark of a future accountant."
The central conflict of the play is the encounter between Pops and his old partner at the end of Act I, when truths come out like vermin climbing out of the walls (the apartment is described as being in ruins, including several piles of ancient dog shit). But I was disappointed in the beginning of Act II, when Pops meets with a woman from his departed wife's church. Known only as the "Church Lady" (no, not Dana Carvey), she's a Catholic but also member of a Brazilian cult like Santeria. There is a miraculous event that smacked of inaunthenticity and took the play in a direction that didn't maintain its tone.
The end of the play, when Pops gets the last laugh, was satisfactory, but on the whole I give this play three stars out of five. I would like to see it performed some day. What we who out in the hinterlands needs is for Fathom Events, who broadcast the Metropolitan Opera on movie screens, to do the same with New York stage productions.
February 11, 2017
Read this as an easy way to start my [Reading for Growth] as it's a Pulitzer Prize winning drama (and I had picked it up on my most recent trip to the in NYC).
It tells the story of Pops, an ex-cop with a huge, rent-controlled apartment filled with some seedy characters who know his son. Recently widowed, Pops lives in ever-growing squalor as he waits for a settlement from the city over an unfortunate shooting he suffered while off-duty.
His son, Junior, might become a father (if Lulu, his son's girlfriend, gets to keep the baby like she wants); his ex-partner, Detective O'Connor, comes to visit him, asking for him to reconsider his lawsuit against the city; his son's friend, Oswaldo, needs money in the worst way; and then there's the rapturous visit from the Church Lady...
The play has some funny moments and some serious ones. It definitely goes places I didn't quite expect, but overall I just didn't love reading it. It took me five days (three sittings) to read—and that's not the best quality in a contemporary play.
I felt for Pops for most of the play, but in the end he makes an ultimatum that felt too mean and hateful (and other details come to light that generally make him a much less sympathetic character). In the very end, his ultimatum has a reason, but I still don't think it makes up for it. It seems no one is really friends with anyone and it all just sort of ended—meh.
Really wish I'd have picked up 's instead.
It tells the story of Pops, an ex-cop with a huge, rent-controlled apartment filled with some seedy characters who know his son. Recently widowed, Pops lives in ever-growing squalor as he waits for a settlement from the city over an unfortunate shooting he suffered while off-duty.
His son, Junior, might become a father (if Lulu, his son's girlfriend, gets to keep the baby like she wants); his ex-partner, Detective O'Connor, comes to visit him, asking for him to reconsider his lawsuit against the city; his son's friend, Oswaldo, needs money in the worst way; and then there's the rapturous visit from the Church Lady...
The play has some funny moments and some serious ones. It definitely goes places I didn't quite expect, but overall I just didn't love reading it. It took me five days (three sittings) to read—and that's not the best quality in a contemporary play.
I felt for Pops for most of the play, but in the end he makes an ultimatum that felt too mean and hateful (and other details come to light that generally make him a much less sympathetic character). In the very end, his ultimatum has a reason, but I still don't think it makes up for it. It seems no one is really friends with anyone and it all just sort of ended—meh.
Really wish I'd have picked up 's instead.
February 1, 2019
Is this a good play? Yes. Does the fact that it won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama give the reader a flawed impression of its quality? Also yes. Stephen Adly Guirgis 70-some page tragicomedy is at times hilarious, at times deep, and at times frustrating. Between Riverside and Crazy tells the story of an old man, Pops, living in an expensive apartment with his son, son's girlfriend, and son's friend. From the very first scene, Guirgis sets the expectation that this will be a pretty comedic play. And I'll admit, I laughed out loud. But from there, we delve deeper into Pops and his life. I had a hard time finding compassion for this character for his outright stubbornness and cynical outlook on life. Besides the lack of connection with many of the characters on the page, I felt like the plot dragged, the objectives were often unclear, and even the "big reveal" lacked theatricality. I'll just say that I hoped it was better on stage. This is by no means a review on the actual show, but I am quite critical it's script. Let me know if you thought otherwise!
June 14, 2016
I enjoyed this. The characters were well written. There was a nice blend of drama and comedy. I didn’t pick up on much of a deep theme, but it’s always difficult to do that on a first reading of a play. I think I would go see this if it were produced somewhere nearby.
It’s basically the story of a crotchety old man named Pops. He is living in a rent-controlled apartment that the city wants to take away from him. He is a former cop who was shot while off duty, and his son is a petty thief. Pops struggles to stay in control of his life during these tumultuous times. There’s a strange near death sexual healing scene that seems a bit far-fetched given the otherwise gritty and realistic tone of the rest of the play, but it was a fun read.
It’s basically the story of a crotchety old man named Pops. He is living in a rent-controlled apartment that the city wants to take away from him. He is a former cop who was shot while off duty, and his son is a petty thief. Pops struggles to stay in control of his life during these tumultuous times. There’s a strange near death sexual healing scene that seems a bit far-fetched given the otherwise gritty and realistic tone of the rest of the play, but it was a fun read.
June 11, 2016
This is a comedy, not high drama, though it does have its dramatic moments. Much of the enjoyment comes from the language of the chartacters, which always feels perfect. The result is highly entertaining (unless you're offended by profanity) and never predictable. Pops is a great character who can clearly see the injustices of the world, but who also is a little too attached to resenting them.
My only real disappointment was that the character of Lulu felt a little too easy. She's not merely a dumb bimbo, as she gets a few killer lines, but she doesn't get to be a great deal more than that, either. A lot of comedy plays off stereotypes, but that trope feels a bit too 20th century.
My only real disappointment was that the character of Lulu felt a little too easy. She's not merely a dumb bimbo, as she gets a few killer lines, but she doesn't get to be a great deal more than that, either. A lot of comedy plays off stereotypes, but that trope feels a bit too 20th century.
July 7, 2018
I actually really liked The Motherfucker with the Hat much more. Although there was something about this play that worked. The gentrification in the background. Discussion of police politics. Family dynamics. Race, even. This play had a ton of themes and issues but I feel like something was missing. I know this did really well when it premiered and I can see why but this play didn't resonate with me as much as his other play. Overall, well-written and something I'd be interested to see on the stage.
May 27, 2018
Stephen Adly Guirgis fittingly won the Pulitzer Prize for this play, one of the strongest expressions of his voice as a writer. The play focuses on Pops Washington (a great role for David Zayas), a retired police officer battling the department over disability he probably doesn't deserve and contending with a son drifting into crime. Guirgis' writing is earthy, sometimes outrageous and always deeply perceptive.
February 3, 2016
I was kind of surprised by the arc of this thing. By about scene three, it seemed like a not especially interesting stop on the road from O'Neill through Shepard and Letts, but just when I was ready to loose interest, Church Lady turns up. I'm not sure there are enough fresh bits to make up for the stale ones, but if a production turned up locally, I'd probably go see it.
March 29, 2017
This play is so relevant for the times we currently live in (early 2017). The author writes honestly about racism and police brutality and how rent controlled apartments are threatened with gentrification. Walter Washington is a character that will stick with me for awhile. I definitely hope to see a production of this.
January 31, 2018
One of the better contemporary plays I've read recently. The dialogue crackles and is quite funny throughout and Pops is quite memorable. This is an efficient play, also, and though the play is not exactly highly original (indebted as it is to A Raisin in the Sun, Fences and August Wilson in general), it clicks. I would love to see a performance of this play.
January 13, 2020
Quick read; excellent characters and humour. I enjoyed that the character weren't one-sided; each seemed to subtly or even sub-consciously negotiate for their needs. The plot reveals were somewhat predictable but the stories in past and present were poignant and clear. And the use of swearing was awesome!
March 23, 2016
Funny, well-crafted, reasonably politically and culturally astute. Guirgis has a great sense of the NYC vernaculars and there's just enough complexity in the handling of race and politics to earn the play a place in the conversations around Black Lives Matter.
July 20, 2016
Powerful story!
Looking forward to seeing the performance in a few weeks. I couldn't stop reading. Just when I thought I understood what was happening I realized that I was wrong. Will lead to some great discussions.
Looking forward to seeing the performance in a few weeks. I couldn't stop reading. Just when I thought I understood what was happening I realized that I was wrong. Will lead to some great discussions.
July 29, 2016
Guirgis is too enmeshed in trying to prove he knows the way the seedy and downtrodden act, that he tells a story with really really bare bones. I'm appalled that this won the Pulitzer over Suzan-Lori Parks's Father Comes Home from the Wars.
April 6, 2016
This took me on an emotional roller coaster I did not expect but loved every minute of.
May 10, 2016
has about as much 'deep thinking on the state of the american soul' as buzzfeed
May 10, 2016
This script is phenomenal, like Albee with diversity.
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