Kron - In the Wake

IN THE WAKE BOOKS BY LISA KRON
AVAILABLE FROM TCG 2.5 Minute Ride and 101 Humiliating Stories Well ALSO The Five Lesbian Brothers/Four Plays By The Five Lesbian Brothers:
Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell,
Peg Healey and Lisa Kron INCLUDES: Brave Smiles... another lesbian tragedy Brides of the Moon The Secretaries Voyage to Lesbos IN THE WAKE Lisa Kron THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP NEW YORK 2014 In the Wake is copyright 2014 by Lisa Kron In the Wake is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156 All Rights Reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the authors representative: Patrick Herold, ICM Partners, 730 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, (212) 556-5782.

Epigraphs: Nobody Knows My Name: A Letter from the South, by James Baldwin, from Nobody Knows My Name, copyright 1961 by James Baldwin, renewed 1988, 1989 by Gloria Baldwin Karefa-Smart, Vintage Books, a division of Random House, New York. The Uses of Sorrow, by Mary Oliver, from Thirst: Poems, copyright 2004 by Mary Oliver, Beacon Press, Boston; used by permission of Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency, Inc. The publication of In the Wake, by Lisa Kron, through TCGs Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Kron, Lisa. pages cm ISBN 978-1-55936-729-5 1. pages cm ISBN 978-1-55936-729-5 1.

Women journalistsDrama. 2. Mothers and daughtersDrama. 3. LesbiansDrama. Title. Title.

PS3561.R584I5 2013 812.54dc23 2013014445 Book design and composition by Lisa Govan Cover design by Mark Melnick Front cover photographs: Joerg Buschmann / Millennium Images, UK (top);
Mark Melnick (bottom) First Edition, March 2014 Contents T hanks to Kathy Bailey, Michael Kavanagh, Joann Kingsley, Ben Kron and especially Loretta Mears for conversations that informed, inspired and shaped this play. I am, as always, indebted to my collaborator and friend Leigh Silverman for her intelligence, craft, guidance and heart. IN THE WAKE PRODUCTION HISTORY In the Wake co-premiered at the Kirk Douglas Theatre/Center Theatre Group (Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director; Charles Dillingham, Managing Director) in Los Angeles, California, on March 21, 2010 (under the title The Wake). It was subsequently produced at Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Tony Taccone, Artistic Director; Susan Medak, Managing Director) in Berkeley, California, on May 14, 2010. It was directed by Leigh Silverman; the set design was by David Korins, the costume design was by Meg Neville, the lighting and projection design were by Alexander V. Nichols and the sound design was by Cricket S.

Myers; the production stage manager was Elizabeth Atkinson. The cast was:

ELLEN	Heidi Schreck
DANNY	Carson Elrod
KAYLA	Andrea Frankle
LAURIE	Danielle Skraastad
JUDY	Deirdre OConnell
AMY	Emily Donahoe
TESSA	Miriam F. Glover

In the Wake received its New York premiere at The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) on November 1, 2010. It was directed by Leigh Silverman; the set design was by David Korins, the costume design was by Susan Hilferty, the lighting and projection design were by Alexander V. Nichols and the sound design was by Darron L West; the production stage manager was Martha Donaldson.

The cast was:

ELLEN	Marin Ireland
DANNY	Michael Chernus
KAYLA	Susan Pourfar
LAURIE	Danielle Skraastad
JUDY	Deirdre OConnell
AMY	Jenny Bacon
TESSA	Miriam F. Glover

CHARACTERS ELLEN, white, mid to late thirties, is funny, earnest and self-assured. She advocates for her ideas fiercely and with enjoyment, and she grapples eagerly with the ideas and the feelings of others. She is a delightful talker, charmingly self-aware, who often pokes fun at herself to soften her excessesthough she does not apologize for her passion. Her efforts to be big and good and responsible are sincere, as is her love for her family and friends. DANNY, white, mid-thirties, is Ellens long-time boyfriend and Kaylas younger brother.

He is a schoolteacher and exceptionally good at it, though low-key when talking about it. He is easygoing and understated, but not simple. Though he doesnt advertise it, he runs deep. KAYLA, white, mid to late thirties, is Lauries partner, Dannys older sister, and best friends with Ellen since they were in college, where she was Ellens idol. She is a freelance writer of fiction and journalism. She supports herself with a series of day jobs at various not-for-profit social-justice organizations.

LAURIE, white, mid to late thirties, is Kaylas partner and works as a chef. Shes fierce in her affections and loyalties and though shes sometimes irritable with Ellen, she loves her like family. She finds talk of politics stressful, and the heated conversations that take place regularly in her home feel to her like a rigged competition she could never win if she cared to competewhich she doesnt. She is attractively dykeyalthough she does not actually look like Ellen DeGeneres. JUDY, white, mid-fifties, is Ellens long-time friend. She is an international aid worker and the kind of person who feels most at ease in a crisis zone.

She has no romantic illusions that the world can be changed, but she also cannot pretend that everything is fine. It is important to note that there is no sense of betrayal in her critique of American democracy, since she never believed American democracy was intended to include people like her. AMY, white, mid-thirties to early forties, is an experimental filmmaker who lives in Boston. She is intelligent and un-self-consciously direct in conversation. Feelings move through her unmediated, and she presents them without calculation. TESSA, Judys niece, biracial, sixteen.

DIALOGUE NOTATION This is not a play of assertions. The thoughts and feelings of the characters should be evolving and fluid, taking shape in the back and forth of their conversations with each other. It should feel spontaneous. For Ellen in particular, it is imperative that her dialogue be driven by wonder, curiosity and deep pleasure in her search for lucidity. Double slashes ( // ) in the dialogue indicate the start of the next spoken line. Ellipses are used here to indicate a characters active search for the right words or image.

PROJECTIONS Projected images from television and print news are indicated in many of the transitions between scenes. These projections should be prominent, immersive and immediate. They are meant to pull the audience into a visceral memory of time and place, and to reconnect them with whatever assumptions and frame of mind they held at that time. The content of the projections should serve only this purpose. Though perhaps tempting, it is much better not to choose clips that score political points or invite the audience to easy judgment. Any honest examination of the national life proves how far we are from the standard of human freedom with which we began.

Next page