Something Short of Balance
This
ten-minute experimental play begins with Maureen, who considers various methods
of suicide. Her three deceased daughters
Abby, Jen, and Veronica enter and attempt to persuade her not to join them in
death, asserting in particular that she will face the same dangers in death as
she had in life.
During the course of the play, we discover that two daughters, Abby and Jen, had the strong bond of full sisters, that they had actively excluded their half-sister Veronica as well as their brother H.P., and that Maureen had not demanded that they change their behavior toward their brother and half-sister. Eventually, H.P.’s anger had burst out into physical abuse of their mother, into which Abby, Jen, and Veronica intervened to stop; this violent confrontation resulted in the deaths of all four children, leaving Maureen with an empty house and little reason to live. At the end of the play, however, the daughters work together to persuade Maureen that she should avoid both H.P. and death.
|
Play Structure: |
1 Act: 10-minute play |
|
Cast size: |
4 |
|
Gender: |
4 female |
|
Period: |
An interim in the present. |
|
Costumes: |
All wear ordinary streetclothes, but also utilize two bathrobes, a hospital
gown or robe, and a bunny robe/rug. |
|
Location: |
The open floor of Maureen’s
apartment. |
|
Set: |
A mostly bare stage. Props
include: mallet, dagger, gun,
newspaper, angel wings, three-legged chair, fourth leg, large stick. |
|
Blocking: |
Conventional blocking and
presentation in the style of realism should both be used sparingly. |
Production History
|
Something Short of Balance received its premiere production by Green
Theatre Productions and Theatre Puget Sound at Theatre4 in |
|
Maureen |
J Maki |
|
Abby |
Mandy Delashmitt |
|
Jen |
Liziah Woods |
|
Veronica |
Jillian Ratliff |
|
Something Short of Balance was next produced by Another Country
Productions at the Devanaughn Theatre on |
|
Maureen |
Sheryl Johns |
|
Abby |
Karen Katz |
|
Jen |
Bernice Sim |
|
Veronica |
Kelly McCabe |