Annette Bening will return to Broadway in 2008, in The Female of the Species. She hasn't graced the boards since 1987, so this is kind of a big deal. And it does sound like a play worth pursuing:

In this new work by Australian playwright [Joanna] Murray-Smith (Honour), Bening plays Margot Mason, a feminist literary giant suffering an extreme case of writer's block as deadline after deadline comes and goes on her next book. When a young fan arrives unexpectedly at her country home, Margot's world slowly and comically begins to unravel as family and friends show up and debate the virtues of her bestsellers, her inconsistent world view and her decidedly unmotherly touch. (Broadway.com)

Bening as a "feminist literary giant"? Sounds perfect. If anyone can play larger-than-life characters, it's the woman who made Michael Douglas tolerable in The American President.

But I haven't always been a Bening fan. Back in the mid-'80s, I — and the rest of the members of my high school drama club — saw her in a production of The Cherry Orchard in Denver. We were given a tour of the theater before the show. (How else do you recruit budding thespians?) Bening was our tour guide, and she was nothing but nasty. Not only that, she was ineffective: I somehow got lost and had to leave by skulking across the stage. … continue reading