About
the Book:
Humana Festival 1995: The Complete Plays showcases
plays selected from the 19th annual cycle of world premieres,
featuring a remarkable array of work by some of the most exciting
voices in the American theatre.
The
Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL) – the Tony Award-winning state
theatre of Kentucky – in 1976 produced two new works at its first Humana
Festival – as it is known because of its corporate sponsorship. One was
D.L. Coburn's
The Gin Game, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1978 and helped
launch what became the nation's most respected New American Play festival. For
six weeks every spring, Louisville exerts a gravitational pull on
producers and theatre lovers from around the country, who travel from
far and wide for the adventure of seeing a diverse slate of
fully-produced new plays. Many Humana Festival plays have gone on to
garner awards and subsequent productions, making a sustained impact
on the international dramatic repertoire.
This anthology makes the genius of American playwrights available
to an even wider audience, allowing readers from around the world to
experience the collision of perspectives, styles and stories that
makes the festival such an invigorating celebration of the art form.
This book includes the award-winning Beast on the Moon by
Richard Kalinoski (the Acting Edition is currently out of
print), which is an intimate drama about an Armenian immigrant couple
in Milwaukee whose marriage is haunted by the 1915 genocide. The play
has been translated into 12 languages, produced in 17 countries
around the world, and showered with awards.
• Tough Choices for the New Century by Jane Anderson.
A tongue-in-cheek seminar in which a lecturer offers preparedness
advice for responsible living in times of disaster. Meanwhile his
wife/assistant slowly and hilariously disintegrates in fear. A second
lecturer, the charismatic Arden Shingles, deftly makes her argument
for why everyone in the audience should be packing a gun. (Cast: 2
female, 1 male)
• Your Obituary Is a Dance by Bernard
Cummings. A young man dying of AIDS returns to his Texas hometown
and is reunited with a childhood friend. (Cast:1 female, 1 male)
•
Head On by Elizabeth Dewberry. Only minutes before an
appearance on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show, a therapist specializing
in multi-orgasmic sex must find a common ground with a woman who's
witnessed a head-on collision. In this age of sensational media
disclosures, it's surprising to watch what can happen off-camera when
real intimacy is given a chance. Two people find unexpected intimacy
moments before each is to appear as a guest on Oprah Winfrey's TV
talk show. (Cast:2 female)
• Below the Belt by Richard
Dresser. A comedy set in a remote industrial outpost where three
workers for an impersonal corporation face loneliness, boredom and
the vengeance of Mother Nature. (Cast: 3 men)
• Beast on
the Moon by Richard Kalinoski. Set in 1920's Milwaukee,
the story centers on the struggles of a young Armenian immigrant
refugee and his mail-order bride, the only survivors of the Turkish
genocide. Contrary to his expectations, she is unable to conceive a
child. When she brings home a 12-year-old orphaned boy, the question
arises: can these three damaged souls manage to function as a family?
(Cast: 1 female, 2 male, 1 boy)
• July 7, 1994 by
Donald Margulies. A day in the life of a young physician
treating troubled patients in an inner-city health clinic. The
one-act addresses the moral anxieties of a female physician working
hard amid divisions posed by class, race, and a broken health care
system. (Cast: 4 female, 2 men)
• Middle-Aged White Guys
by Jane Martin. A full-length comic portrait of three brothers
that asks what it means to be a member of the "white guy club."
(Cast: 3 female, 4 male)
• Trudy Blue by Marsha
Norman. A full-length dramatic comedy about successful writer who
embarks on a spiritual journey with "Trudy Blue", the main
character in her new novel, as companion and alter ego. (Cast: 5
female, 2 male)
• Cloud Tectonics by Jose Rivera.
A full-length drama that follows the story of a pregnant hitchhiker
in search of the father of her child and a lonely man who picks her
up during a record-breaking Los Angeles deluge and welcomes her into
his home. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)
• Between the Lines
by Regina Taylor. A poetic look at a woman whose struggle to
bring passion and intimacy into her life is sparked by a
globe-trotting former college roommate.
• Helen At Risk
by Dana Yeaton. Conducting a workshop in creative mask-making
at a prison, Helen winsomely shares her artistic skills along with
her ideals. When a wise-guy inmate starts acting up, however,
self-expression takes a nasty turn. (Cast: 1 female, 2 male)
What people say:
"This year the playwrights'
vision is a searing indictment of modern life, thankfully leavened by
strong (and welcome) doses of hope and humor." — The
Denver Post
"The work in Louisville ...
was the most topical, the most ambitious, and of the highest
quality...." — London Financial Times
"On the verge of the
festival's 20th anniversary, Actors Theatre has cemented its place
among America's most influential theatres and reaffirmed the
festival's preeminent role as a fount of new plays." — The
Columbus Dispatch,
"Consistent quality and
inspired writing were hallmarks of the 1995 festival, which easily
ranks as one of the finest in recent years." — Lexington
Herald-Leader
About the Editor:
Marisa Smith has worked in the theatre as an actress,
producer, playwright, and theater book publisher. She is s a graduate
of Wesleyan University.