Vogel - The Mammary Plays

The Mammary Plays is copyright 1998 by Paula Vogel How I Learned to Drive is copyright 1997, 1998 by Paula Vogel The Mineola Twins is copyright 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 by Paula Vogel The Mammary Plays is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 355 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 100170217. 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: Peter Franklin, William Morris Agency, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, (212)903-1550.

Vogel, Paula. [Mineola twins] The mammary plays : two plays / Paula Vogel. Contents: The Mineola twins How I learned to drive. eISBN 978-1-55936-715-8 I. Vogel, Paula. II. Title. Title.

PS3572.O294M56 1998 812.54dc21 9740169 CIP Cover design by Chip Kidd Text design and composition by Lisa Govan First Edition, March 1998 For PhyllisCONTENTS

Despite a few problems, he should be played by an actor one might cast in the role of Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird.The Greek Chorus If possible, these three members should be able to sing three-part harmony.Male Greek Chorus Plays Grandfather, Waiter, High School Boys. Thirtiesforties. (See .)Female Greek Chorus Plays Mother, Aunt Mary, High School Girls. Thirtyfifty. (See .)Teenage Greek Chorus Plays Grandmother, high school girls and the voice of eleven-year-old Lil Bit. Note on the casting of this actor: I would strongly recommend casting a young woman who is of legal age, that is, twenty-one to twenty-five years old who can look as close to eleven as possible.

The contrast with the other cast members will help. If the actor is too young, the audience may feel uncomfortable. (See .)PRODUCTION NOTESI urge directors to use the Greek Chorus in staging as environment and, well, part of the familywith the exception of the Teenage Greek Chorus member who, after the last time she appears onstage, should perhaps disappear.As For Music: Please have fun. I wrote sections of the play listening to music like Roy Orbisons Dream Baby and The Mamas and the Papas Dedicated to the One I Love. The vaudeville sections go well to the Tijuana Brass or any music that sounds like a Laugh-In soundtrack. (See .)This script uses the notion of slides and projections, which were not used in the New York production of the play.On Titles: Throughout the script there are bold-faced titles. (See .)This script uses the notion of slides and projections, which were not used in the New York production of the play.On Titles: Throughout the script there are bold-faced titles.

In production these should be spoken in a neutral voice (the type of voice that driver education films employ). In the New York production these titles were assigned to various members of the Greek Chorus and were done live.NOTES ON THE NEW YORK PRODUCTIONThe role of Lil Bit was originally written as a character who is forty-something. When we cast Mary-Louise Parker in the role of Lil Bit, we cast the Greek Chorus members with younger actors as the Female Greek and the Male Greek, and cast the Teenage Greek with an older (that is, mid-twenties) actor as well. There is a great deal of flexibility in age. Directors should change the age in the last monologue for Lil Bit (And before you know it, Ill be thirty-five....) to reflect the actors age who is playing Lil Bit.As the house lights dim, a Voice announces:Safety firstYou and Driver Education.Then the sound of a key turning the ignition of a car. Lil Bit steps into a spotlight on the stage; well-endowed, she is a softer-looking woman in the present time than she was at seventeen.LIL BITSometimes to tell a secret, you first have to teach a lesson.

Were going to start our lesson tonight on an early, warm summer evening.In a parking lot overlooking the Beltsville Agricultural Farms in suburban Maryland.Less than a mile away, the crumbling concrete of U.S. One wends its way past one-room revival churches, the porno drive-in, and boarded up motels with For Sale signs tumbling down.Like I said, its a warm summer evening.Here on the land the Department of Agriculture owns, the smell of sleeping farm animal is thick on the air. The smells of clover and hay mix in with the smells of the leather dashboard. You can still imagine how Maryland used to be, before the malls took over. This countryside was once dotted with farmhousesfrom their porches you could have witnessed the Civil War raging in the front fields.