The Michaels

A double volume that collects two of the final installments from Tony Award-winning playwright and director Richard Nelson’s critically-acclaimed “Rhinebeck Panorama” play cycle.

Begun over 12 years ago, each play in Nelson’s intricate and moving play cycle captures a specific snapshot in time in the lives of three families from a small upstate New York village, from the Apple family, to the Gabriels, and now the Michaels—a family with deep roots in the world of modern dance.

The Michaels: Conversations During Difficult Times takes place in the kitchen of Rose Michael, a celebrated choreographer. A meal is prepared, modern dances are rehearsed, and dinner is eaten—all amidst conversations about art, death, family, politics, and the state of America.

What Happened?: The Michaels Abroad brings the cycle to a close as the Michaels find themselves in Angers, France in September 2021, attending a student dance festival and crawling out from under the deadly pandemic, which turned life as they knew it upside down.