Powerhouse actress takes the stage Off-Broadway

Sarah Rebell Guest Writer

A face familiar to the Vassar campus appears on stage in the new Off-Broadway play “Dividing the Estate.” Actress Maggie Lacey, who visited campus last summer as part of the annual Powerhouse Theater Festival, plays a schoolteacher in the latest play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote.

The play, presented by Primary Stages, began previews in New York City on Sept. 18 and officially opened Sept. 27. “Dividing the Estate” examines a Texas family in 1987 that is struggling with the financial recession and questioning about the future of the family estate.

Lacey’s character, Pauline, is engaged to the grandson who manages the grandmother’s estate while his older relatives moan, fuss and relax.

“[Pauline] is very interested in the past and loves the idea of being connected to a family that is so rooted in the past,” said Lacey.

Nevertheless, Pauline symbolizes societal modernization. While many of the relatives adhere to racist, narrow-minded attitudes, Pauline discusses bilingual education, the effects of chemical waste on the environment and the newfangled (for the 1980s, that is) VCR. Lacey finds the tension between the old mindset and the new “one of the most intriguing and poignant themes of the play.”

In order to depict Pauline genuinely, Lacey made up her entire background, including how she met her fiancé. “I thought they would’ve met in the grocery store in the town and I decided she started the conversation,” said Lacey.

Lacey attended a liberal arts college in Maine, where she acted in numerous shows. After graduation, she was unsure whether theater was a “feasible career choice,” but ultimately took the leap. “I did some plays around the city, auditioned for grad school [the MFA program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University] and got in the second time around,” said Lacey.

Since graduating from Tisch, Lacey has found steady work as an actor. She has appeared in several Off-Broadway plays, including “Engaged and Andorra,” “The Butterfly Collection” and “Three-Cornered Moon.” She has also done film and TV work for programs such as Law & Order: SVU and Sex and the City.

Yet despite having an agent and several acting credits to her name, Lacey had to audition twice for “Dividing the Estate.” She was particularly determined to join the cast because of director Michael Wilson. Wilson staged Foote’s “The Day Emily Married” for Primary Stages in 2004, as well as “Enchanted April” and the revival of “Old Acquaintance” on Broadway.

She reflected fondly on her involvement with Powerhouse this July. She played the title role in Amy Herzog’s “The Wendy Play,” which was staged at the Susan Stein Shiva Theater as part of the Readings Festival.

“I had a great time working on [‘The Wendy Play’],” said Lacey. “It’s great to do a play outside of the hustle and bustle of the city, where I could just work on the process. When you’re an actor in the city it’s not about that—it’s about getting jobs.”

Lacey became so fond of the campus over the summer that she even said that she wished she had attended Vassar. She offered advice to aspiring performers on campus. “Vassar has great resources,” said Lacey. “Use all your resources and stretch yourself as actors because you’ll be given opportunities at Vassar that you won’t get in the real world.”

“Dividing the Estate” is showing at Primary Stages at 59E59, located at 59 E 59th Street, New York City through Oct. 28.