First published April 16 2025 by Broadway News [SOURCE]
By Michael Abourizk
Lisa Dozier Shacket has optioned the rights to develop and produce Alfred Uhry’s play “Without Walls.”
Uhry, who won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “Driving Miss Daisy,” the 1997 Best Play Tony Award for “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” and the 1999 Best Book of a Musical Tony for “Parade,” originally wrote “Without Walls” in the early 2000s. However, following encouragement from longtime friend Matthew Johnson Harris, Uhry recently revisited the piece and rewrote 65 percent of the three-character drama. Shacket, whose credits include serving as general manager of 2019’s “Be More Chill” and producing 2024’s “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now,” will produce an industry presentation of “Without Walls” in the fall of 2025.
Set in 1976 New York City, “Without Walls” follows the experiences of a beloved teacher and his two favorite students at a progressive, private high school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
“‘Without Walls’ is loosely based on an incident that occurred when I was teaching at the Calhoun Learning Center on the Upper West Side of NYC in the 1970s,” Uhry explained in a statement. “When I revisited the script, a strange thing happened. Somehow, the intervening years had sharpened my perspective, and thanks to my friend Matthew Johnson Harris, I saw how relevant the material has become today. I revised accordingly, and now I am delighted that a new friend, Lisa Dozier Shacket, is making plans to bring it to New York.”
“It is the absolute honor of my career to collaborate with Alfred Uhry on bringing a new work of his to the New York stage,” said Shacket. “As a child living in a small town in Kentucky, ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ changed my life — it was the first time I learned about Broadway and the power of the American theater. ‘Without Walls’ is a gorgeous exploration into mentorship and the challenges teachers face every day [in] trying to protect their students.”
The creative team, casting and timeline of the industry presentation will be announced.
Uhry’s entire literary catalog was recently acquired by the theatrical division of International Literary Properties.
