The play opened Nov. 30, 1960, at the Belasco under the direction of Arthur Penn and was well received. It starred Colleen Dewhurst, who won a Tony Award playing a wife whose family is reeling from the sudden death of her husband. Lillian Gish and Arthur Hill also starred. The show almost closed several times, but in the end managed 333 performances, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Best Play Tony Award nomination. A film version followed in 1963.