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Breakdown
Tribes
Portland Premiere
Reh: 1/5/15
Perf: 2/3–3/8
A contemporary drama that centers on Billy, the only deaf member of a competitively comedic and intellectual family. Unsupported by his parents and siblings, he reaches out to the deaf community and learns sign language, creating funny but fierce tensions at home. Billy finally confronts his childhood resentments, while he and his family struggle with the intricacies of language and the human need to belong to a tribe.
[BILLY] Male, early-mid 20s. The youngest son. Deaf and an expert lip reader. Intelligent and compassionate, youthful and inexperienced. Recently moved back in with his parents after university. He was raised by hearing parents who purposefully kept their son away from other deaf people, so he wouldn't develop a minority mindset. He finds a sense of belonging in the deaf community and in his relationship Sylvia as she teaches him sign language. Role requires extensive sign language.
[SYLVIA] Female, 25-30. Raised by deaf parents highly involved in the deaf community, she now finds herself going deaf. Highly intelligent, compassionate, independent, with a quick wit. Mature for her age. She feels isolated, considered not fully deaf by many of her peers, but not being fully hearing either. She and Billy fall in love as she teaches him sign-language, despite his family's objections. Role requires extensive sign language.
[RUTH] Female, 25-30. The middle child. She still lives at home. Talented, but insecure and defensive. She resents that her family does not take her ambition to be a professional opera singer seriously. Nonetheless, she tries to be kind and understanding towards her parents. If provoked, however, she will not hesitate to attack her family member's weaknesses.
[CHRISTOPHER] Male, 25-30. The eldest son. A grad student still living at home struggling to complete his thesis. His mother dotes on him and his father constantly berates him. He struggles with insecurity, and projects a cruel, intellectual bravado to cover it up. He cannot bear the idea of Billy leaving him. During the course of the play, he re-develops a lost stammer as symptoms of mental illness re-emerge.
[DANIEL] Male, 50s-60s. The father. A novelist and a professor. He was very careful to raise his children to be critical and intellectual. Usually the center of attention due to his outsized personality, lacerating wit, and brilliant mind. Despite his confrontational and argumentative manner, he loves his children.
4000 Miles
Northwest Premiere
Reh: 3/30/15
Perf: 4/28–5/24
A cross-country bike trip from the Pacific Northwest marred by the death of his best friend brings 21-year-old Leo to his 91-year-old grandmother’s West Village apartment. Trapped in inertia and trying to escape his past, Leo's world views are rattled by his grandmother’s recollections of her radical, bohemian past
[AMANDA] Female, 19, Chinese-American. An outgoing fashionista with a unique sense of humor, from a rich family in California. A student at Parson's planning to be an art star, although she hasn't decided which medium yet. She meets Leo while out drinking and wants to hook up with him, but Leo's elderly grandmother and her Communist beliefs kill the mood.
[BEC] Female, 21. An intelligent and compassionate grassroots activist who has just starting college. A dedicated cyclist. She fell out of love with Leo shortly before his trip across the country and broke up with him when he arrived in New York. Like him, she is still grieving for their friend Micah, who died in a freak accident while on the bike trip with Leo.
The Liar
Reh: 4/27/15
Perf:5/26–6/28
When Dorante, a young gentleman who is incapable of telling the truth, meets poor servant Cliton who is incapable of lying, chaos ensues. Dorante falls in love with beautiful Clarice, even though Clarice is engaged to his old friend Alcippe, but that's fine because Dorante has confused Clarice with her best friend Lucrèce. David Ives' transla-daptation in rhyming verse is replete with wild misassumptions, mistaken identities, and the kind of romance that only a French farce can provide.
[DORANTE] Male, 20's – 30's. A gentleman who cannot help but lie. He falls in love with the beautiful Clarice, but mistakes her for her best friend Lucrèce. As fathers and jealous lovers appear, Dorante spins more lies to bewilder his antagonists and win Clarice's love.
[CLITON] Male, 20's – 30's. Dorante's valet who is incapable of lying, yet charged with keeping track of his master's extensive lies. In love with Clarice's maid, Isabelle.
[CLARICE] Female, 20's – 30's. An outgoing, beautiful, wealthy young lady. Lucrèce's best friend. Secretly engaged to the jealous Alcippe. Almost in love with Dorante, but suspicious of his motives. She engineers a ploy of secret identities to test his love for her.
[LUCRÈCE] Female, 20's – 30's. A reserved, beautiful, wealthy young lady. Clarice's best friend. She pretends to be Clarice, as part of Clarice's ploy to test Dorante's love. Lucrèce is getting tired of always being the best friend.
[ALCIPPE] Male, 20's – 30's. A jealous, easily-angered gentleman and an expert with a sword. Friends with Dorante and Philiste, and secretly engaged to Clarice.
[PHILISTE] Male, 20's – 30's. A reserved, insightful, gentleman. Friends with Dorante and Alcippe. In love with Clarice's maid, Sabine.
[ISABELLE/SABINE] Female, 20's – 30's. Isabelle and Sabine are twin sisters and maids to Clarice. Isabelle is flirty, funny, and always good for a laugh. Sabine is strict, prudish, and extremely religious. Isabelle is in love with Cliton. Sabine is in love with Philiste.
The Price
Reh: 3/2/15
Perf: 3/31–4/26
Two estranged brothers must sift through a lifetime of their deceased father’s possessions as they negotiate with a mysterious buyer. Miller’s timeless classic unearths lifetimes of choices and emotional illusions to reveal the true cost of living a full life.
[GREGORY SOLOMON] Male, Russian-Jewish immigrant, late 80's/early 90's. He has perfected a way of leaning on a cane without appearing weak. Nonetheless, he is nearing the end of his life- a fact which fills him with anxiety. Antique dealer and furniture appraiser, New York, 1968.
Blithe Spirit
Reh: 10/27/14
Perf: 11/25–12/27/14
Charles, a successful novelist, has decided his next book will be about a psychic medium who cons their customers with tricks and sleight of hand. He and his wife Ruth invite a local medium to a dinner party/séance, in order to fully understand the trade. Charles is astonished to find that the medium is as real as can be- and she has accidentally brought back the ghost of his dead wife, Elvira. Only Charles can see or hear her, but she is more than capable of wreaking havoc on his current marriage to Ruth. A mischievous, supernatural farce.
[ELVIRA] Female, mid 30's. The titular spirit. Even though she and Charles had a rocky relationship while she was alive, she is still very much in love with him and will stop at nothing to win him back from Ruth.
[EDITH] Female, 20's. Charles and Ruth's maid. Her job is a source of endless stress, as she has not worked as a maid for very long and she is terrified of doing anything wrong.
[RUTH] Female, mid 30's. Charles' second wife. Intelligent, beautiful, and realistic. She is a true skeptic, and only trusts her own experiences. While she may not love Charles passionately, she is very fond of him and the life they have together. When this life is threatened by forces she cannot understand, she loses her cool composure.
[DR. BRADMAN] Male, mid 30's. A well-established suburban doctor, married to Mrs. Bradman. He is always friendly and cheerful, despite the stress of his profession.
[MRS. BRADMAN] Female, early 30's. A well-established suburban housewife, married to Dr. Bradman. She is friendly and doggedly positive, the perfect model of a 1950's housewife.
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