The Light in the Piazza

Winner of six Tony® Awards and five Drama Desk Awards, The Light in the Piazza is set in Tuscany during the early 1950s. Margaret Johnson, a wealthy American woman from the South, and her daughter, Clara, are vacationing in Tuscany. While mother and daughter sightsee in Florence’s piazza, Clara loses her hat in a sudden gust, landing at the feet of Fabrizio, a handsome young Florentine man. Of course, it is love at first sight. But, as in real life, The Light in the Piazza becomes complicated. Due to a brain injury during childhood, Clara sometimes acts with innocent, childlike behavior that belies her age. Reflecting on the course her own life has taken, Margaret wonders if protecting Clara will deprive her daughter of a chance for a full life and true love or if she should shield her from demands that may overwhelm her.