Product Review

For more than 30 years, most New York theater seasons have included a work by playwright and director John Patrick Shanley. He began writing off-Broadway shows after a hitch with the Marine Corps and went on to win the 2005 Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for “Doubt,” which explored the emerging issue of priests’ sexual abuse of children. The screenwriting Oscar he’d won for “Moonstruck” had persuaded his father that a career with the city sanitation department was not in his future. In this extensive interview with journalist Paula Span, Shanley discussed his brawling Bronx childhood, his reunion with the nun who taught his first grade class, the glories of Ireland, a recent call from Tom Hanks and his openly autobiographical new play “Prodigal Son.” Plus poetry, prayer, Twitter and that time he snubbed the Supreme Court.

Paula Span, a veteran journalist, writes the New Old Age column, about aging and caregiving, for the New York Times and teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The author of “When the Time Comes: Families With Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions,” she is a chronic theatergoer.

Cover design by Adil Dara.