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The Receipt Plays |
May 14-15, 2004 at The Sande Shurin Theatre • Producer: Bethany Larsen |
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The Receipt Plays are a collection of ten-minute plays, each based on a shopping receipt which the playwright randomly received. You will see the receipt each playwright received and read his or her statement on how he or she got from the receipt to the play.
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STATE OF THE UNION |
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 Written by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
Directed by Bobbi Masters
Featuring Mark Farr and Schnele Wilson
It's New Year's Eve. Let's get it on!
"When I saw the date on the receipt, I thought about how funny the list of 'supplies' became. True necessities. Two boxes of cigarettes to get through a long night, party favors to celebrate, and tampons to deal with the inopportune timing of nature's favorite curse. The play came out of my desire to match those items to a face -- to two faces, as it turned out."
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L: Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
R: Bobbi Masters
Far R: Mark Farr and Schnele Wilson in rehearsal |
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IN THE MeanTime |
Written by Sharon E. Cooper
Directed by Rachael Buckner
Featuring Kristy Minor
and Clint Newman
In the MeanTime explores the nature of time, timing, and intimate relationships in fast-paced New York City.
"I carried the receipt with me for several days, looking at the quirky items -- decided that the receipt would be central and would work on multiple levels -- that receipts would represent memories for one of the characters -- that the items on the receipt would have been bought for a specific purpose. I decided that the location on the receipt, Framingham, Mass., would have some importance, but the play wouldn’t take place there. All of this, plus having conversations with two different people about current relationships, informed In the MeanTime."
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L to R: Sharon E. Cooper, Kristy Minor and Clint Newman
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ISBN |
Kirsten Walsh and David Reinhart
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 Written and Directed by ML Kinney
Featuring Kirsten Walsh
and David Reinhart ISBN is an attempt at cataloguing human nature. Inspiration from Virginia Woolf, Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast,
Mozart and the madness of living.
Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. (Thomas Edison)
"I don’t mind sweating, certainly not for craft, but inspiration, well that to me seems the difficult hurdle. As a playwright once I have the inspiration, 1% or more, the rest of the heavy lifting appears easy in comparison. Gaining the first glimpse, or glimmer of an idea now that’s the hard part. As a playwright sometimes it’s all you need.
Inspiration from a receipt?
Sounds a bit strange, but believe me it worked. As a playwright I was amazed at how the receipts influenced the group of Artistic Associates in their choices for inspiration in writing the Receipt Plays. Time, item purchased, location, even a cashiers name, all became the muse for a group of remarkable pieces that show the diversity and talent of all playwrights involved.
A group of over due books.
When first confronted with my receipt I was overwhelmed with possibilities. The library. What type of person returns books late? The money involved in not following the bureaucratic schedule of how long it should take you to read. The actual books and the authors. From one receipt a collection of possibilities. I chose to work with the titles and authors. I found my inspiration – and who wouldn’t have been inspired with To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, a guide to the lighthouses of NY, NJ, MD, DE and VA Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast, Madness: A Brief History, and Touched with Fire a look at manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. Deciding to work with style and voice I let these works set a tone for me.
I only have ten minutes.
The ten-minute play is an extremely difficult, but extremely rewarding format. Beginning, middle, and end with character development all in ten minutes or less. A play – not a sketch – but a play - drama, comedy, musical all in a limited time frame. A great exercise, a great craft however one chooses to look at it – the finished product can only lead us all to be inspired."
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THE LANCASTER COUNTY BLUES |
 Written by Bethany Larsen
Directed by
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
Featuring
David Birnkrant, Andrea Burghart,
Brian Donovan,
and Jennifer Gawlik
A little twist on a tale of teen age rebellion.....
"Let's see...I thought for two weeks about grocery stores, cantaloupes, people shopping for fruit... nothing. Very discouraging. Not one idea. Then, while at work one day, a delivery van for the Amish Market drove by me, and a light went off: The Amish! They're funny! And ripe for conflict and drama. It also helped that The Passion of the Christ had been in the news for days and something about the ludicrous nature of religious fundamentalism stuck in my craw and I thought about putting an extreme lifestyle belief in direct conflict with the desire that most American teenagers have to express themselves as individuals, and voila. A first draft was born."
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| L: Cast members Andrea Burghart, Brian Donovan, Jennifer Gawlik, and David Birnkrant • R: Playwright, Bethany Larsen |
BOWERY |
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 Written by Anne Phelan
Directed by Sharon Rosen
Featuring Kristian Leavy, Antonio Suarez,
and Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud
It's just another day in the store for Carolyn
and Peter. But what if it's the last day?
“From a Bowery Bar receipt: I looked up the Bowery in two New York City reference books, and I read about a New Yorker named William Miller, who predicted that judgment day would be on April 23, 1843. When it wasn’t, he revised the date to Oct. 23, 1844, and after the world didn’t end then, Miller fell into obscurity. For both these dates, New Yorkers prepared by buying fabric from stores on the Bowery to make their angelic robes, so they’d be ready to ascend to heaven. ‘Bowery’ explores what the reaction to Miller’s predictions would be now.”
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L: Playwright, Anne Phelan
R: Kristian Leavy and Sarah Wolfman-Robichaud discuss the end of the world. |
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TONY |
 Written and Directed by Joyce Turiskylie
Featuring
Eddie Malavarca and Francesco Brazzini
When getting your morning coffee
becomes a life changing experience.
"Well, I stared at that receipt for two whole weeks, waiting for something to strike me. Finally, I noticed that the receipt detailed the cashier's name and I wondered why you needed to know your cashier's name at a KMart? It reminded me of an incident that actually happened to me several years ago...and another Ten-Minute Play was born."
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L: Francesco Brazzini as
the coffee cart man.
Top: Playwright and Director,
Joyce Turiskylie |
JOSHUA TREE |
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Music by Nick Moore
Book and Lyrics by Anne Phelan
Directed by Jenn Womack
Featuring Larissa M. Heckler, Jennifer O'Brien,
John Rochette, and Robert Warren
Mary loves Joe, but he's not so sure about her.
Can one big lie change his mind?
“From a Joshua Tree bar receipt: In the Bible, Joshua leads the Jewish people into the Promised Land. A Joshua Tree is a kind of cactus, and the name of a National Park in California. We tried to find a modern-day metaphor for the Promised Land. We chose California (Hollywood, land of plenty, etc.), and thought that was particularly true during the Great Depression, when the musical is set. It also allowed us to play with the music and slang of the period. Throughout the Book of Joshua, God reminds Joshua that the Promised Land and all its riches are a gift. Similarly, through little effort on their parts, Joe and Mary acquire the ranch because of her letter. The major difference is Mary’s character, and the fact that the whole enterprise is built on her one, big lie.”
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L: Jennifer O'Brien, John Rochette, Larissa M. Heckler, and Robert Warren
R:Composer,
Nick Moore |
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