Visiting Mr. Green

One of the most widely performed plays around the world, Visiting Mr. Green, by Jeff Baron, is poignant. . . At times hilarious, but, consistently heartwarming.

The play opens on a cluttered New York apartment where old newspapers, piles of unopened mail and dead flowers are the main décor. It’s the home of Mr. Green, an 86-year-old retired dry cleaner and a devout Orthodox Jew, whose life is in as much disarray as his walk-up apartment. His wife has passed away, and he’s recovering from a fall when he wandered into traffic and was almost hit by a car. Now, Mr. Green is as closed off as a hermit.

Enter Ross Gardiner, a harried American Express executive and the driver of the car. Having been cited for reckless driving, Ross has been sentenced to six months of community service and assigned to help Mr. Green once a week. Ross doesn’t want to be there, and cantankerous Mr. Green certainly doesn’t want his help, but when the judge will not budge about the sentence, the two men must try to deal with each other. It’s a rocky road full of comic bumps and pathos, and it’s unclear if both men will reach the end of the road together.