"The Shadow Box" is a Tony-winning play written by actor Michael Cristofer. This Manual of Style has the simple purpose of making things easy to read by following a consistent format — it is a style guide. ... Michael Cristofer is an American playwright. ...

The play revolves around a trio of terminally ill patients, each of whom lives in a separate cottage at a hospice. Each is being interviewed about the process of dying. For most of the play, the interviewer is unseen, which means that characters speak directly to the members of the audience, as if they were the interviewer.

The first dying person is Joe, a middle-aged, blue-collar family man. Joe seems well-adjusted, and has accepted that he is dying. However, his wife Maggie is in denial, and has not told their son Steve about his father's condition.

The second dying person is Brian, a bisexual English professor. He's being cared for by his lover, Mark. They receive a visit from Brian's flamboyant, slightly trashy ex-wife Beverly. Beverly's presence lifts Brian's spirits, but rankles Mark.

The final dying person is Felicity, an elderly, cantankerous, somewhat senile woman, who is cared for by her long-suffering daughter Agnes. Felicity is in great pain, but refuses to die, because she remains hopeful that her favorite daughter, Annabelle, will return to her soon. In reality, Annabelle has not attempted to contact her family in many years, but Agnes has fed her mother's hopes by composing her own letters, and pretending that they come from Annabelle. Agnes comes to realize that her trick has kept her mother alive and suffering, long past the point at which she should have died. Even so, Agnes cannot bring herself to tell her mother the truth.

"The Shadow Box" made its Broadway debut on March 31, 1977. The original cast included Simon Oakland as Joe, Laurence Luckinbill as Brian, Mandy Patinkin as Mark, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as Felicity. Simon Oakland (28 August 1915 - 29 August 1983) began his career as a violinist (a vocation he would enjoy his entire career as an actor), and began acting in the late 1940s. ... Laurence George Luckinbill (born November 24, 1934 in Fort Smith, Arkansas) is an American television and film actor. ... Mandel Bruce Patinkin (born November 30, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois), is an American actor and renowned tenor. ... Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Fitzgerald (24 November 1913 - 17 July 2005) was an Irish-American actress. ...

Despite its initial success and the Tony award it received as Best Play, "The Shadow Box" is rarely performed today. It is widely regarded as dated and overly earnest, in the manner of a Seventies TV movie-of-the-week.