Tally Ho!
This
ten-minute experimental play explores the dark side of gift-giving. As the play opens, Denise brings Jill into their
hotel suite, and admits two college-age strippers, Kayleigh
and her more shy (and economically-needy) friend Jasmine, whom she has hired to
help celebrate Jill’s birthday – and to spice up Denise and Jill’s multi-year
relationship.
As Denise and Jill enjoy the strippers’ dancing, the Fluffer enters and serves magical liquor from a trio of flasks or decanters on her gift tray. While Denise and Jill assume the Fluffer arrived as a helper to Kayleigh and Jasmine, the strippers conversely drink of the Fluffer’s liquor and assume that the Fluffer is the servant of the lesbian couple. Triangles form under the spell of the Fluffer – and jealousy, guilt, and a sense of obligation follow close behind, for both pairs of women – until the Fluffer’s process of elimination leaves the gift-givers Denise and Kayleigh dead of magical drink, and a final triumvirate of poison-gift miracle-workers is formed under the Fluffer’s leadership.
Cast size: |
5 |
Gender: |
all female |
Period: |
The present. |
Location: |
A hotel suite that Denise has
rented for Jill’s
birthday. |
Set: |
A chair set centerstage for Jill; small tables for the Fluffer’s gift
tray. |
Costume: |
Denise and Jill wear
a casual fun-loving gay-girl aesthetic, perhaps with a little leather or
other accessories to denote the special occasion. Kayleigh and Jasmine wear
the usual layers and undergarments of strippers, though perhaps with their
choices more tastefully targeted to the knowledge of having female
clients. The Fluffer
wears a hot black power-suit or some similarly dignified yet delicious and
dominant outfit. |
Blocking: |
The blocking and movements of
the Fluffer, and the stage pictures created or influenced
by her, should lean toward the unconventional or surreal. The other characters move in the realm of
realism, except when heavily under the Fluffer’s
spell. |
Production History
Tally Ho! received its premiere production as part of 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival, produced by 3-Card Monty and One World Theatre
at the |
Denise |
Deanna Mustard |
Jill |
Therese Henning |
Kayleigh |
Amanda Lee Williams |
Jasmine |
Samara Lerman |
The Fluffer |
Jennifer Pratt |