In a small-town dime store in West Texas, the “Disciples of James Dean” gather for their twentieth reunion. Now middle-aged women, they were teenagers when Dean filmed Giant two decades ago in nearby Marfa. One of them, an extra in the film, has a child whom she says was conceived with Dean during the shoot. The ladies’ congenial reminiscences mingle with flashbacks to their youth; then the arrival of a stunning-but-familiar stranger sets off a series of confrontations that smash their delusions and expose bitter disappointments.
The play was first produced by Players Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, opening September 30, 1975. It was directed by the author. The play received its professional premier by the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 1977. It was directed by Fred Chappell and starred Dana Ivey and Fannie Flagg. The Broadway production opened February 18, 1982. It was directed by Robert Altman.