“But it is Annalee Jefferies who is touching in her attempt to redeem Corella, Horace’s mother. Jefferies conveys the remorse Corella now feels, having given up her boy to save herself, but to what end?”  –Susan Hood, Special to The Courant, September 11, 2009.  You can read the full review from the Hartford Courant here.

Jefferies to Star in Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking for Hartford TheaterWorks

By Adam Hetrick
23 Feb 2009

Actress Annalee Jefferies will star in the TheaterWorks presentation of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.

Jefferies, who appeared Off-Broadway in Christopher Shinn’s What Didn’t Happen, as well as in the Hartford Stage productions of Our Town, A Streetcar Named Desire and Bad Dates, will appear in the 90-minute solo play, which will run April 17-May 24 under the direction of Steve Campo. An opening night has been set for April 24.

Based on Didion’s best-selling memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking is a new addition to the Hartford TheaterWorks season. Stephen Karam’sSpeech & Debate, which was originally scheduled to fill the spring slot on the Hartford season, will now run June 12-July 26.

Creative duties for the production will be announced shortly.

The Year of Magical Thinking paints a vivid and heartfelt picture of a family dissolving while Didion struggles to maintain security through her grief and memories. Didion relives the death of her husband of 40 years, writer John Gregory Dunne. Complicated by Didion’s ailing comatose daughter, Quintana, who Didion would also lose, the events of one night — and the year that followed — are recounted in a candid and intimate manner.

Annalee Jefferies in The Year of Magical Thinking

Additional Links:

Annalee Jefferies to Star in TheaterWorks’Year of Magical Thinking

THE_YEAR_OF_MAGICAL_THINKING_Comes_To_Connecticut

Wikipedia – The Year of Magical Thinking

Short Video: http://www.courant.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=cf0137cc-4212-46ea-a5da-ecc907ea711e&src=front