Poster!

Performance Information!

The Long Christmas Ride Home
a puppet play with actors by Paula Vogel

October 23-25 at the Off-Broadway Theater

Thursday 10/23 @ 8pm
Friday 10/24 @ 7 and 9.30pm
Saturday 10/25 @ 8pm

email sadpuppets.yale@gmail.com for reservations!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

the amazing cast:

Stephen.....Lucas O'Connor
Rebecca.....Maia Collier
Claire.........Peregrine Heard
Man...........Bobby Foley
Woman......Erin Capistrano
Minister....Jacob Liberman

Ensemble:

Isaac Durand
Michael Laskin
Kyle Eichner
Victoria Rogers
Catherine Leech
Lily Lamb-Atkinson

hooray!

Audition poster!

Monologues (Women)

REBECCA

(disheveled, lurches up to a window, calls up)

Chester! Chester! What are you doin’ home? Hey Chester – My keys aren’t working in the lock! Come on down an’ let me in, it is fucking freezing frigid. Chester! I’m down here on the street –

When I was going to tell you what?

Did you read my Mail?!?

Okay. So I’m pregnant. Shit happens. I was gonna tell you when you got back home – Congratulations! Now let me in the goddamn door. The mother of your whatever-it-is is freezing to death out here.

I had a drink with the girls at Toppers! A little Christmas ho ho ho – I had One little drink!

An’ about five little chasers … I’m not keeping it anyway …

What are you calling me?!

You always were a son of a bitch with math. So you were out of town on a business trip three months ago – wait a minute – did you go through my Diary? Did you? Did You Read My – !?

Okay, okay! The “R” in my Diary stands for Rick.

CLAIRE

(watching a display of adultery in her girlfriend’s window. Denial.)

Ah, the floor show is about to begin. Naked lesbian law students. They’ll make out like this for a long time, until Betty’s law school work ethic pops up, stronger than their libidos: time to crack the books for tort class.

Naomi, I’m down here. I’m watching. Look down here, look down here…

Once upon a time, I went through my own golden girl stage. I determined a long time ago that I would never again be a golden girl, but oh I could bed them. I still can’t believe I talked these girls into sleeping with me: tall, blue-eyed, blonde – the difference in height just spurred me on: as they stretched themselves down on the bed, they were a large canvas and I a young Jackson Pollack, ready to fill every inch…

Naomi, Naomi, down here – I’m down here.

Okay; tonight will be the night that Naomi stops; she thinks for a moment; she remembers me and –

And she comes back to me… Naomi… For God’s sake, stop…

(the light goes out in the window)

Oh – oh that’s not a good sign. I fear my Naomi has found her golden girl.

MOTHER

(she narrates for herself and all others. She sits in the passenger seat, her husband driving the family to dinner at her parents apartment.)

For a moment, the family breathed in deeply.

Rebecca, the eldest, said to her brother Stephen
In a voice so low
It could not be heard in the front:
“Don’t breathe on me, Puke-Breath.”
And she accompanied it with a sharp jab.

Stephen pressed up to the glass
And let the smooth chill caress his cheek.

Claire, the youngest, chimed in next:
“If you’re gonna throw up, do it on
Your clothes this time.”

The mother glanced at her husband.
“Ray? Maybe we should pull over?”

And in a voice too low to be heard in the back
Her husband muttered:
“Maybe we should just go home.”

“We go through this every year. Please.
It’s Christmas.”

Monologues (Men)

STEPHEN 1

(Stephen pounds on the door. And pounds, almost panting with rage.)

Open the Door!
Jesus Christ! Joe! Joe!

You son of a bitch, I know you’re in there. Open. Up. This goddamn door!

You’re in there with your little boyfriend. The one who just last year was an altar boy at St. Christopher’s. The one who started shaving last month. The one who is so dewy-eyed that he believes all the bullshit you give him. I swear to god, you coward, that if you don’t open up, I’m going to break this door down. I’ll smash the lock.

JOE! All of our neighbors in the entire Castro are listening to this little scene.

(to a neighbor next door) – Randy, I’m sorry I’ve disturbed you – please go back to the porno tapes you sit and watch in a stupor all night – well, then, call the police!

Joe! You asswipe! I’m breaking through this door! I’ll smash the glass!! Joe!

…He knows I won’t break down the door. I restored this door – it’s from the original house. 1897. It’s beautiful. Solid Oak.

STEPHEN 2

(Having contracted AIDS, Stephen becomes the Ghost of Stephen)

– Oh! How my sisters will cry. I could feel the virus entering my body. But I could not undo what had been done.

And for the next several years, I could feel the virus multiply with a ferocious beauty – replicating patterns that changed and mutated.

As the battle raged inside me, I had just enough time to think. I thought a lot about Ukiyo-E. The Floating World.

And while I was still strong enough, I would walk from my North Beach apartment to Japantown to study Sado – the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

I admired the bowl. I tried not to think. I contemplated the flowers. I tried not to think. I sipped the tea – I tried not to think.

And in the end, when the patterns of the virus dominated my blood as I struggled to breathe: I still remembered how blue Joe’s eyes were.

No matter my efforts: I died just another white boy in San Francisco, dressed in silk, writing haiku to the fog.

FATHER

(narrates for himself and his family)

And as the congregation rose to their feet
And shuffled through the hymnal,
Their father spied his love across the room.
“When oh when will I be able to talk to you again?
I must see you. I must see you.”
His beloved gave an imperceptible nod of her head,
Then quickly Sheila Jackson smiled at her daughter, hugging her.
A picture of the perfect mother.
The father looked at his wife and thought: O God help me.

And their mother Kate caught a glimpse
Of this perfect picture of her rival
Angelically singing beside Mr. Jackson
And their mother thought:
“Look at her hands, look at her neck.
Oh Christ, she looks ten years younger.”

And Claire, the littlest one whispered:
“What do we believe?
Is Christ the King? What’s Redeemer mean?
Does Christ Rise like Bread? What’s the feast of Stephen?”
“Later,” her mother groaned.
“But what do we believe?”
“Shh!” Her father said.

What to Prepare

Please prepare at least two of the monologues found in the next two blog posts. We may not ask you to read both of them, but have two ready! Memorization is not necessary, just familiarity.

In addition, please choose a scene from ordinary life – morning prep, opening presents during the holidays, attending class, etc. – and be ready to perform it silently and highly theatrically. Don't stress about this too much... I just want to see what you come up with and how you do it! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at gary.jaffe@yale.edu.

Auditions!

Here is the information for the auditions.

When: Tues. 9/2, 4-6:30; Wed. 9/3 5:45-9:30
Where: Rm. 201 at 220 York St. (Chapter Room)
Sign up: Theater Studies Door at 220 York St.
Questions: lauren.bremen@yale.edu

We are casting 3 male and 3 female roles – all major roles. In addition, we are looking for a flexible ensemble of 6 performers/puppeteers who will be constantly on stage, bringing the puppets and the production to life. One male role requires strong dance skills!

The characters are:

MAN. The frigid father of a mid-1960's traditional/dysfunctional family. He's having an affair, and spends all his money on his mistress. Jewish, though his family attends a Unitarian Universalist church. Along with the WOMAN, he narrates most of the first half of the play in 3rd person. (a storyteller)

WOMAN. The family's disillusioned mother. She sees everything is falling apart, but can't stop it. Very withdrawn. Lapsed Catholic, though her family attends a Unitarian Universalist church. Along with the MAN, she narrates most of the first half of the play in 3rd person. (a storyteller)

REBECCA. The eldest of the 3 children. 12 going on 13, she's into Catholic boys and not Unitarian Universalism. Wants to be an adult -- hates being one of the kids in the back seat. She's a bit plain, and tends to get overlooked. (child Rebecca is a puppet, controlled by the actress who plays her as an adult)

As an adult, Rebecca has lost her way. She leads a wild life with little regard for herself or others. After her boyfriend discovers she's had an affair, she's locked out of her house, drunk and alone. Despairingly, she lays herself down on a bench, almost covered by snow on a freezing winter night.

CLAIRE. The youngest of the 3 children. 7 and precocious, Claire wants to know why, how or what to believe about everything. She is the golden girl, and the only one to receive any true affection from her father. (child Claire is a puppet, controlled by the actress who plays her as an adult)

Adult Claire has left behind her golden girl days, but not her taste for golden girls. However, on a freezing winter night, she discovers her steady girlfriend has found a golden girl of her own. Locked out and forgotten, she faces the night, and the barrel of her own gun.

STEPHEN. The middle child. 9, frail and effeminate, he never seems to be able to please his father. He has special empathy for his mother. Not knowing why, he seems to like watching the boys at school play games at recess. When a Christmas sermon is given at the Uni-Uni church with a Japanese theme, he becomes transfixed with all things Japanese. (child Stephen is a puppet, controlled by the actor who plays him as an adult)

After getting thrown out of his house by his boyfriend, adult Stephen seeks solace in anonymous sex. He contracts AIDS and dies young. However, in the tradition of Japanese Noh drama, he returns as a Ghost, and comes to quietly save his sisters on a certain freezing winter night. The entire play is told through the perspective of the Ghost of Stephen.

THE MINISTER. The spiritual center of the play. Gives a sermon incorporating the Japanese tradition of the Ukiyo-E (Floating World), which entrances Stephen and allows for the traditions of Japanese theater to meld into the production. He also voices the Mother's parents. When Stephen returns to the world of the living for a day, he does so through a beautiful dance performed by the Minister. The actor playing the minister must have strong dance skills.

The 6 Performers/Puppeteers will work the puppets, create sound effects organically on stage, and play any characters which appear on stage but do not speak. They are rarely off stage, and integral to the show.

Callbacks will be Thursday September 4^th 5:45-9:30pm.

see next post for what to prepare for the audition!

Welcome!

Welcome to the blogspot site for the production of Paula Vogel's The Long Christmas Ride Home at Yale University, October 23-25, directed by Gary Jaffe '10 and produced by Lauren Bremen '10. Here, you will find information for auditions -- the characters in the play, monologues, etc. to prepare, and updates.

"The Long Christmas Ride Home" is a synthesis of intimate American family drama and Japanese Bunraku and Noh theater. The play concerns the shattering of a family one Christmas Eve, and how the three children, facing despair as adults, find each other and salvation across any boundary, even that of life and death (or puppet and actor!). Magic -- theatrical, spiritual, emotional -- fills the play; it is raucously funny, piercingly dramatic and wonderfully moving.

Here's an introduction (the picture!) to Claire, Stephen and Rebecca, our production's child puppets. All are works in progress, needing, among other things, hair, hands, new clothes and, oh yes, faces. The puppets were made by the Jaffe Family Summer Improvisational Puppet Workshop in Austin TX, then traveled all the way here in a Honda CR-V -- a long August ride home indeed!


Expect more information soon.