Famililly
a play in two acts
by Charles Deemer
First produced at the Wharf Rat Theatre in Salem, Massachusetts, on August 7, 1998. Directed by Laney Roberts.
Winner of the 1997 "Crossing Borders" international new play competition and the 1998 Buckham Alley Theatre Playwrights Competition. Also the highest ranking stage play in the 1998 New Century Writer Awards and a finalist for the 1998 Oregon Book Award.
THE CAST:
George, patriarch of the Wellington clan, retired
Martha, his wife
Thomas, their oldest son, an accountant, 30s
Vincent, Thomas' lifemate, an architect, 30s-40s
Emily, their daughter, college professor, 30s
June, Thomas' ex-wife, budding jazz singer, 30s
SETTING:
The Wellington condo in San Francisco. Living room. Stairs lead to bedroom. Upstage exits to kitchen and den. Front door.
TIME:
July 4, 1976. Act II, scene ii: one year later, July 4, 1977.
ACT ONE
(AT RISE: The living room of a luxurious condominium in San Francisco. Stairs lead to bedrooms. Hallway leads to kitchen, den, bathroom. Front door. It is morning, July 4, 1976.)
(VINCENT, 30s, is in the room, dressed in 18th century costume, suggesting Benjamin Franklin. EMILY, 30s, is on the divan, a body under a blanket. Vincent is reading a typed script, "going over lines," preparing for a one-man show he is doing tonight. Finally he puts down the script, stands up and begins "a dry run." In the beginning, his tone is casual, matter-of-fact; he is doing this primarily for lines.)
VINCENT: "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a people to change the institutions which have nurtured them since birth, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the redefinition of such institutions to which the Laws of Nature entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to such changes."
(Emily coughs, gets up and obliviously wanders out of the room, on her way to the bathroom. Vincent watches her, amused, but says nothing until she is gone. Then he turns to the audience.)
VINCENT:(to audience) Emily, the brightest Wellington of them all. Tenured professor of history at Columbia University. Younger sister of Thomas, who is my — my what? I refuse to say "significant other." Significant other what? My lover. My partner in life. It is not like Emily to come home to a family reunion. Apparently the last time, years before Thomas and I got together, she and her father really got into it. You'll get the details later.
(He looks at the spot where Emily exited, then turns back to the audience. Now he'll play his show directly to the audience at performance level.)
VINCENT: (to audience) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all children are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Shelter, Security, Education, and Nurturing. That to secure these rights, Families are instituted among men and women, deriving their definition and social acceptance from the consent of the people. That when any definition of Family becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to abolish or redefine it, and to institute a new kind of Family, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its authority in such form, as to them seem most likely to effect the Safety and Welfare of the children."
(Emily returns.)
EMILY: Vincent, why are you dressed like that?
VINCENT: Emily! And good morning to you, too! Are we feeling a bit woozy this morning?
EMILY: Please don't tell me there's a costume party.
VINCENT: "There's a costume party." Close, but no cigarillo. (Modeling his costume) Who do you think I am?
EMILY: I haven't a clue.
VINCENT: You don't recognize gentle Ben, the scatological connoisseur of the Revolution?
EMILY: Of course. What do you mean, "close" to a costume party?
VINCENT: We, my dear, are riding a float in the parade. And later I'm doing a one-man show. You won't believe how I've rewritten the Declaration of Independence! Want to hear it?
EMILY: It's too early to concentrate. I couldn't find any coffee.
VINCENT: The coffee pot is in the den, not the kitchen. Be right back.
EMILY: You're a dearheart.
VINCENT: Dearheart! Is that what you academics say to one another now? Gag me!
