The Year of Magical Thinking

On January 30 2003, legendary writer Joan Didion’s life changed forever. On Christmas Day, her beloved only daughter, Quintana, had been hospitalised with an unknown and rapidly escalating illness. Then, five days later, after returning from visiting the now-unconscious Quintana, Didion’s husband, the novelist John Gregory Dunne, suffered a massive heart attack and died. Didion’s retelling of the aftermath of these events was documented in her bestelling 2005 memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, and was adapted for the stage two years later. It went on to have sold-out runs on Broadway and the West End with the equally legendary Vanessa Redgrave in the title role. Now director Laurence Strangio (Krapp’s Last Tape) has teamed up with Green Room Award winner Jillian Murray (The Lady in the Van) to present the heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful tale at fortyfivedownstairs.