She played the supporting role of Leilah in Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women and Others in a May 1978 "Theater in America" television production for PBS's Great Performances. She replaced Glenn Close, who played the role in the Off-Broadway production at the Phoenix Theatre. Hoping to divert herself from the grief of Cazale's death, Streep accepted a role in The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) as the chirpy love interest of Alan Alda, later commenting that she played it on "automatic pilot". She performed the role of Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park. That same year she played a supporting role as the former girlfriend turned lesbian in Manhattan (1979) for Woody Allen. Streep later said that Allen did not provide her with a complete script, giving her only the six pages of her own scenes, and did not permit her to improvise a word of her dialogue. Vincent Canby of The New York Times described her performance as being "beautifully played".
she played the supporting role of leilah in wendy wasserstein's uncommon women and others in a may 1978 "theater in america" television production for pbs's great performances she replaced glenn close who played the role in the off-broadway production at the phoenix theatre hoping to divert herself from the grief of cazale's death streep accepted a role in the seduction of joe tynan (1979) as the chirpy love interest of alan alda later commenting that she played it on "automatic pilot" she performed the role of katherine in the taming of the shrew for shakespeare in the park that same year she played a supporting role as the former girlfriend turned lesbian in manhattan (1979) for woody allen streep later said that allen did not provide her with a complete script giving her only the six pages of her own scenes and did not permit her to improvise a word of her dialogue vincent canby of the new york times described her performance as being "beautifully played"