Durang - The Marriage of Bette and Boo

THE MARRIAGE OF

Bette and Boo

THE MARRIAGE OF

Bette and Boo

by

CHRISTOPHER DURANG

Copyright 1985 by Christopher Durang

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Published simultaneously in Canada

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Durang, Christopher, 1949

The marriage of Bette and Boo.

I. Title.

PS3554.U666M31987812.5486-33468

ISBN-10: 0-8021-3365-7

ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-3365-6

eISBN: 978-0-8021-8891-5

Grove Press

an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

841 Broadway

New York, NY 10003

Distributed by Publishers Group West

www.groveatlantic.com

07080910LS-06061098765

To my mother

The Marriage of Bette and Boo was first presented by the New York Shakespeare Festival (Joseph Papp, President) at the Public/Newman Theater in New York City on May 16, 1985. It was directed by Jerry Zaks; the scenery was by Loren Sherman; the costumes were by William Ivey Long; the lighting was by Paul Gallo; the original music was by Richard Peaslee; the hair was designed by Ron Frederick; the associate producer was Jason Steven Cohen; the production stage manager was James Harker; the stage manager was Pamela Singer. The cast was as follows:

Understudies: Dalton Dearborn, Patrick Garner, Lizbeth MacKay, Rose Arrick, Ann Hilliary. During the final week, Mr. Dearborn and Ms. Hilliary played Karl and Soot.

The Marriage of Bette and Boo has a long history. A fifty minute version was presented at the Yale School of Drama and at the Williamstown Theatre's Second Company. The Public Theatre production was the premiere of the expanded version.

CHARACTERS

Bette Brennan

Margaret Brennan, her mother

Paul Brennan, her father

Joan Brennan, her sister

Emily Brennan, her sister

Boo Hudlocke

Karl Hudlocke, his father

Soot Hudlocke, his mother

Father Donnally

Doctor

Matt

SCENES

ACT ONE

Scene 1

All the characters, in various wedding apparel, stand together to sing: the Brennan family, the Hudlocke family. Matthew stands apart from them.

All ( sing ):

God bless Bette and Boo and Skippy,

Emily and Boo,

Margaret, Matt, and Betsy Booey,

Mommy, Tommy too,

Betty Betsy Booey Boozey,

Soot, Karl, Matt, and Paul,

Margaret Booey, Joanie Phooey,

God bless us one and all.

( The characters now call out to one another. )

Bette: Booey? Booey? Skippy?

Boo: Pop?

Margaret: Emily, dear?

Bette: Booey?

Boo: Bette?

Karl: Is that Bore?

Soot: Karl? Are you there?

Joan: Nikkos!

Bette: Skippy! Skippy!

Emily: Are you all right, Mom?

Bette: Booey, I'm calling you!

Margaret: Paul? Where are you?

Joan: Nikkos!

Boo: Bette? Betsy?

Bette: Boo? Boo?

( Flash of light on the characters, as if their picture is being taken. Lights off the Brennans and Hudlockes. Light on Matt, late twenties or so. He speaks to the audience. )

Matt: If one looks hard enough, one can usually see the order that lies beneath the surface. Just as dreams must be put in order and perspective in order to understand them, so must the endless details of waking life be ordered and then carefully considered. Once these details have been considered, generalizations about them must be made. These generalizations should be written down legibly, and studied. The Marriage of Bette and Boo.

( Matt exits. Characters assume their places for photographs before the wedding. Boo stands to the side with his parents, Karl and Soot . Bette , in a wedding gown, poses for pictures with her family: Margaret , her mother; Emily , her sister, holding a cello; Joan , another sister, who is pregnant and is using nose spray, and Paul , her father. Bette , Margaret , Emily smile, looking out. Paul looks serious, fatherly. Joan looks sort of grouchy. Lights flash. They change positions. )

Margaret: You look lovely, Bette.

Emily: You do. Lovely.

Margaret: A lovely bride. Smile for the camera, girls. ( Speaking out to either audience or to unseen photographer: ) Bette was always the most beautiful of my children. We used to say that Joanie was the most striking, but Bette was the one who looked beautiful all the time. And about Emily we used to say her health wasn't good.

Emily: That's kind of you to worry, Mom, but I'm feeling much better. My asthma is hardly bothering me at all today. ( Coughs lightly. )

Margaret: Boo seems a lovely boy. Betsy, dear, why do they call him Boo?

Bette: It's a nickname.

Margaret: Don't you think Bette looks lovely, Joanie?

Joan ( without enthusiasm ): She does. You look lovely, Bette.

Margaret: Where is Nikkos, dear?

Joan: He's not feeling well. He's in the bathroom.

Emily: Do you think we should ask Nikkos to play his saxophone with us, Joan dear?

Joan: A saxophone would sound ridiculous with your cello, Emily.

Emily: But Nikkos might feel left out.

Joan: He'll probably stay in the bathroom anyway.

Bette: Nikkos seems crazy. ( Joan glares at her. ) I wish you and Nikkos could've had a big wedding, Joanie.