The Graduate
Character: Elaine Robinson
Directed by: Terry Johnson
Written by: Terry Johnson
Cast Members: Jason Biggs, Kathleen Turner, Linda Gray, Lorraine Bracco
Venue: The Canon Theatre Toronto / Colonial Theatre, Boston / Plymouth Theatre, New York
Production Dates: January - February 2002 / February 20 - March 10, 2002 / April 4, 2002 - March 2, 2003
In 1967, Benjamin Braddock, aged 20, has earned his bachelor's degree from a college on the East Coast and has returned home to a party celebrating his graduation at his parents' house in Pasadena, California. Benjamin has no idea of what to do with his life and is visibly unhappy as his parents deliver accolades and neighborhood friends ask him about his future plans. He hides from those who try to congratulate him. Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, insists that he drive her home. Benjamin is persuaded inside to have a drink and Mrs. Robinson attempts to seduce him. She invites him up to her daughter Elaine's room to see Elaine's portrait and then enters the room naked, making it clear that she is available to him. Benjamin rejects her but a few days later, he awkwardly organizes a meeting at the Taft Hotel, where he registers under the pseudonym Gladstone.