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Borderlines
Borderlines
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Author: John Bishop Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 72 Pub. Date: 1989 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822201356 ISBN-13: 9780822201359 Cast Size: 4 female, 5 male; 3 female, 6 male
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About
the Play:
Borderline has long been
a favourite of acting teachers for Female/Male Scenes.
Borderlines is the umbrella title for two one-act dramas by
John Bishop. A closely integrated program of two highly
imaginative and challenging plays, respectively, a witness being
grilled about murders, and a police stakeout, which explore the male
mystique and penchant for violence, and the havoc this can cause in
relationships with the opposite sex. The plays may be presented
separately or as a double bill to create a full evening of
entertainment.
The first half of the program, entitled Borderline, is a
compact and powerful one-act that chronicles the psychic
disintegration of Charles Graham, a young marketing executive who, it
would seem, "has it all" – a good job, a loving wife and
children, a comfortable home, etc. But, beneath the surface, he is
beset by a gnawing dissatisfaction, which is triggered into active
hostility when is questioned by a detective about a double murder in
his neighbours' house. Drawing away from his alienated wife and
children, and allowing his career to falter, Charles becomes
embroiled in a series of disastrous extramarital affairs, culminating
in the ultimate violence of murder. Meanwhile, a character called the
"lecturer," with maps and slides, traces the genealogy of
his self-destructive conduct back to his forebears' involvement in
the violent Scottish border wars to the settlement of California. (Cast: 4 female, 5
male)
The second portion of the bill, entitled Keepin' An Eye On
Louie, again focuses on male violence, but this time the action
involves a "stakeout" where two policemen and a policewoman
are holed up in an apartment with a gangland informer (sneaked into
the building disguised as a woman for security reasons). They are
monitoring the criminal comings and goings in an Italian restaurant
across the street. Both policemen are having trouble with their wives
– one is impotent, the other suspects his wife of infidelity –
and, again, their simmering unease leads both to sexual confusion and
destructive, fatal violence, albeit laced with moments of antic
humour and wildly funny dialogue. (Cast: 3 female, 6 male)
Borderline premiered in 1986 at the Skylight Theatre in Los
Angeles to glowing critical reception, and received six Drama-Logue
Awards. The play has become
a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops. It
was part of
the double-bill Borderlines that premiered in
1988 at the famed Circle Repertory Company off-Broadway in New York
City and then on the West Coast in 1991 at the Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood, an intimate venue well-known for its award-winning plays.
What people say:
"John Bishop…keeps
extending his range and getting better and better from play to play."
— New York Magazine
"There is white-hot excitement
here, and, speaking for myself, I hung on every word Bishop's people
spoke." — New York Post
"Bishop's crisp dialogue,
believable characters, succinct structuring, and worthwhile thematic
underpinnings make for absorbing theatregoing." —
BackStage
"Borderlines ...
delves with compassion into the composition of the clay feet of the
heroes most men consider themselves." — Los Angeles
Times
About the Playwright:
John Bishop (1929-2006) was an American playwright and
screenwriter. When Marshall W. Mason, founder of the acclaimed off-Broadway Circle Repertory Company, saw a performance of The
Trip Back Down, he invited John Bishop to become a member
as both a writer and director. Circle Rep would become his artistic
home for nearly 20 years, producing many of his plays. He later
founded the Circle West theater company in Los Angeles. He also used
his knowledge of and interest in male behaviour and police procedures
to do rewrites on the big-budget thrillers Sliver, Primal Fear, Clear
and Present Danger, and Beverly Hills Cop III.
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