Crediting Friendship in ‘Sophie and Willa’ : A ‘unique solution’ is wrought by two playwrights’ ability to share one story

Michael Kassin’s friends thought he was crazy to do it.

Thom Ackerman Maslow thought it made perfect sense, and still does.

Katharine Sloan was glad that it happened, but isn’t quite sure what to make of it all now.

What playwright Kassin did to make his writer friends scratch their heads might sound, on paper, to be a case of the dramatist’s cardinal sin. But Kassin assures anyone who will listen that it’s nothing as horrible as that.

On the other hand, Kassin’s attempt at giving life to his comedy, “Sophie and Willa,” ranks as one of the most unusual theater-making strategies in some time.

After eight years of failing to see his play receive a full production, Kassin allowed producer Maslow to hand over the script to Sloan for a rewrite. That was two years ago. Last weekend, “Sophie and Willa” opened at the Tiffany Theatre for a run through Jan. 14.

Tiffany patrons will find the following credit in the show’s program: “A comedy by Katharine R. Sloan based on the original play by Michael Kassin.” According to David LeVine, president of the Dramatists Guild, which represents the legal and artistic interests of member playwrights in the United States, the form of dual credit is fairly unheard of.

“I can’t think of anything else quite like it,” LeVine said. “This sounds like a set of unique concerns which this solution seems to address. It’s certainly a unique solution.”

It is standard Hollywood practice for a movie or TV writer’s script to be taken away and given to another writer if the producer--or whoever owns the material--wishes. In the theater, the playwright is author and owner; legally, a word may not be changed without the playwright’s consent.

Combine this citadel-like realm of authorship with the fact that, while Kassin is a veteran playwright, Sloan is a veteran of TV sitcoms, and you have the basis for writers’ war.

But, “Michael was extremely patient from the beginning to the end of rewriting,” said Sloan, who is director of features and comedy development for the Disney Channel. “In fact,” she added, “he was amazing.”

“I’ve waited this long to see the play up on a stage,” Kassin said by phone from New York. “I can wait for script improvements. Besides, though the words have been changed, the story, the dramatic arc and the main characters are pretty much the same. That’s no mean feat, so I give Kathy a lot of credit.”

Call it adapting to circumstances--much like the two hardy New York women, Sophie Coppleman and Willa Jackson, at the heart of the comedy. Willa, a black woman, pregnant at the age of 40 and abandoned by her boyfriend, seems like a ship lost at sea until Sophie, an elderly and feisty Jewish lady, gives her safe harbor. Against all odds, they become friends.

Kassin gave “Sophie and Willa” its first public hearing in 1979 at Baltimore’s Center Stage. Actress Estelle Getty of “The Golden Girls” played Sophie in the theater’s staged reading, but it never proceeded to a full production. He rewrote it two years later, but there were no takers.

Next scene: Hollywood, 1986. Getty was working on “The Golden Girls,” and happened to tell Maslow, a development executive for independent TV producer Reuben Cannon, about the wonderful play she once did back East. Maslow met Kassin, and told him that he was interested in his play. They shopped it around. Still no takers.

And there was another problem. Said Sloan: “Michael is sweeter than I am, more sentimental, and some of that came through in the early version. Thom felt that the elements surrounding Willa’s pregnancy didn’t really work, that it needed the insight of someone who’s experienced giving birth.”

Someone such as Sloan, who said, “I tend to write about pain through comedy, and this was just that kind of story.” Maslow asked Kassin whether, given Sloan’s strengths, he would let her rewrite his play.

“I took a long look at things,” Kassin said. “There hadn’t been a significant production of the play. Kathy, Thom and I also saw the play the same way, that it was about the last chances in life and how women help each other. I based Sophie on my great-aunt, who was incredibly resourceful. Kathy had a relative who was the same way, so she knew where Sophie was coming from. Besides, I retained script approval, so I’ve never lost control of my work.”

Sloan plowed ahead with drafts (the one at the Tiffany is No. 8). “I would call Michael and scream ‘Help!’ into the phone,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was wrecking his play, and he assured me not to worry.

“I wanted to write realistically about a single woman who wants a kid, and how it’s terribly difficult to find people who can be counted on to help when it’s time. There are moments of doubt and fear during pregnancy, and for women like me or Sophie who want control over their lives, it can be terrifying.”

Good feelings between the writers didn’t mean eternal agreement, however. To prevent the comedy from becoming a sitcom, Sloan said, “Sophie had to be tough. But Michael wondered early on about some of her tough language.” Said Kassin: “Kathy and I had some long conversations. She was full of questions.”

The only time, though, that Kassin voiced serious reservations with Sloan’s work was at a reading last October. “He had real problems with changes I had made in the story’s structure. He thought that whole scenes, mostly in the first act, had to go.”

More long conversations ensued, but when Kassin viewed a dress rehearsal prior to the show’s Dec. 15 opening, he was, Sloan said, “pleasantly surprised. I think the play could be a lot funnier. But he not only asked for no changes, he thought it was a pleasant night in the theater.”

Maslow’s only worry about “Sophie and Willa’s” development is that it “sets a precedent. All three of us talked about that. I’m concerned that some people will think about rewriting somebody else’s play just like they do in TV or film, where there’s a terrible lack of respect for writers.”

His concerns, though, are mitigated by one of the cold realities of show business: “I don’t think what we did will happen again, because people seldom trust each other enough in this business to allow what Kathy and Michael did. They were concerned about the characters’ relationships on the stage, not making deals. That’s why it worked.”

“Sophie and Willa” plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays at the Tiffany Theatre, 8532 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, through Jan. 14. (213) 652-6165.