Presents
"Eleemosynary"
& "Art" were performed May 1 – 3,
2009
at
Woodlawn Arts Academy
• • • • •
"Eleemosynary"
by Lee Blessing
• • • Cast of Characters • • •
Dorothea: A woman of some means – Karol Teal
Artie: Her daughter – Sarah Thompson
Echo:
Her granddaughter – Alex Colmark
• •
• Staff • • •
Director – Susan Branch
Costumes – Mary Lynn Tedrick
Wing Design and
Construction –
Chuck Price
Lights and
Sound – Mary
McCormick
Publicity – Pat McCleod
Ticket Sales – Karen O’Leary and
Nicole Meinhardt
Set Painting – Susan Branch,
Edwin Davis, Karen O’Leary
From the Description on the Dramatist's
Play Service web page.
THE STORY: Staged with utmost simplicity, using platforms and a few
props, the play probes into the delicate relationship of three singular
women: the grandmother, Dorothea, who has sought to assert her
independence through strong-willed eccentricity; her brilliant
daughter, Artie (Artemis), who has fled the stifling domination of her
mother; and Artie's daughter, Echo, a child of exceptional
intellect—and sensitivity—whom Artie has abandoned to an upbringing by
Dorothea. As the play begins, Dorothea has suffered a stroke, and while
Echo has reestablished contact with her mother, it is only through
extended telephone conversations, during which real issues are skirted
and their talk is mostly about the precocious Echo's single-minded
domination of a national spelling contest. But, in the end, after
Dorothea's death, both Artie and Echo come to accept their mutual need
and summon the courage to try, at last, to build a life
together—despite the risks and terrors that this holds for both of them
after so many years of alienation and estrangement.
"ART"
by Yasmina
Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
• • • Cast of Characters • • •
Marc –
Edwin Davis
Serge –
Bruce Munsell
Yvan –
David Downing
• • • Staff • • •
Director – Bruce Munsell
Lights – Mary McCormick
Publicity – Pat McCleod
Ticket Sales – Karen O’Leary and
Nicole Meinhardt
Set Painting – Susan Branch,
Edwin Davis, Karen O’Leary
From the Description on the Dramatist's
Play Service web page.
THE STORY: How much would you pay for a white painting? Would it matter
who the painter was? Would it be art? One of Marc's best friends,
Serge, has just bought a very expensive painting. It's about five feet
by four, all white with white diagonal lines. To Marc, the painting is
a joke, but Serge insists Marc doesn't have the proper standard to
judge the work. Another friend, Ivan, though burdened by his own
problems, allows himself to be pulled into this disagreement. Eager to
please, Ivan tells Serge he likes the painting. Lines are drawn and
these old friends square off over the canvas, using it as an excuse to
relentlessly batter one another over various failures. As their
arguments become less theoretical and more personal, they border on
destroying their friendships. At the breaking point, Serge hands Marc a
felt tip pen and dares him: "Go on." This is where the friendship is
finally tested, and the aftermath of action, and its reaction, affirms
the power of those bonds.