Holiday

Holiday (1928), a play by Philip Barry. [Plymouth Theatre, 230 perf.] Having made a small fortune while still a young man, Johnny Case ( Ben Smith) decides to use his wealth to live a carefree, easy life. As he tells his prospective sister‐in‐law, Linda Seton ( Hope Williams), “I just want to save part of my life for myself. There's a catch, though. It's got to be part of the young part.” He can work again later, if need be. This philosophy sits well with Linda, but not with Johnny's fiancée, Julia Seton ( Dorothy Tree), nor with her father. So when Johnny goes off to put his ideas into action, it is Linda, not Julia, who follows him. While critics saw this play as everything from an intellectual defense of the hedonism of the 1920s to an Edith Whartonish satire on society, Barry's modern editor, Brendan Gill, viewed it as “an embodiment of Barry's continued preoccupation with the relations between outsiders and insiders,” noting that at the time of this Arthur Hopkins production, Barry was a newly rich young man, watching with fascination from outside the curious games of society insiders. The comedy was turned into the short‐lived Broadway musical Happy New Year (1980) using Cole Porter songs.