Three actors parody
Strindberg . . . Miller . . . Mamet . . . Tennessee . . .
A witty send-up of male playwrights' view of womenIn Strindberg Tonight, Tennessee Tomorrow a sassy, aware actress and an actor/director are rehearsing Strindberg’s classic, Miss Julie. When the script calls for her to commit suicide because she’s had sex with her father’s valet, she rebels, refusing to play so ridiculous a response to a few minutes of sex.
Seeking to modernize the script, she and her fellow actor launch into deconstructions and improvisations so outrageously contrary to the author’s intentions that Strindberg is aroused from his grave. At first angered, but then intrigued by the actress, Strindberg joins her acting company. He is amazed to find his mind opening to his leading lady’s point of view, as she makes him realize that his life-long set of mind about women is obsolete.
By instigating rehearsals of typical passages from modern plays, and then reconstructions of them, the increasingly observant actress forces her men to acknowledge that today’s recognized male playwrights are no more modern in their concept of womanhood than Strindberg had been.
Actors and directors will relish the challenge this sardonic comedy offers. Its parodies include the extravagant theatricality of August Strindberg, the naturalistic melodrama of Arthur Miller, the romantic despair and earthy violence of Tennessee Williams, and the vulgar idiomatic energy of David Mamet. These vignettes are embellished by the satiric wit of the bridging dialogue.
(2 m., 1 f., suggested set)Expanded from the one-act version (Strindberg Tonight) which wa a winner of:
The Henrico Theatre Company (VA) national
One-Act Playwriting Competition
&
National Playwriting competition
conducted by The University of Arkansas
