Overview

• Jean Smart returns to Broadway after 25 years to portray Isabelle Scutley, a Louisiana woman who writes secret poetry as a refuge from an abusive marriage.
• Playwright Jamie Wax’s one-woman drama delves into domestic abuse, the liberating power of poetry and the weight of societal gender expectations.
• Reviewers applaud Smart’s warmth, wit and emotional depth even as they flag predictable plot turns and clichéd southern stereotypes.
• Director Sarna Lapine and designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams use a minimalistic set—centered on a toilet—to symbolize Izzy’s private writing haven.
• The production opened June 12 at Studio 54 and continues through mid-August, buoyed by Smart’s critically acclaimed performance.