JUDEVINE: A PLAY IN TWO ACTS
by
David Budbill
| This
page has several sections:
A synopsis of the play. A production history of the play. Some critical reviews. |
SYNOPSIS OF THE PLAY Using
an acting ensemble of variable size, from six to a dozen or more, and
through a series of interrelated scenes the ensemble creates 24
characters in a town called Judevine, a poor, rural mountain town in
northern Vermont, which is a kind of Third World country within the
boundaries of the United States where, like so many Third World
countries, there is incredible physical beauty, great suffering and
hardship and a tenacious and indomitable will to survive. JUDEVINE
is a parade of lives seen singly and in relation to others: Raymond and
Ann, who in their 50 years together have become a mythic vision of love
and warmth and cooperation; Grace, whose tortured and lonely life
explodes into bitterness, violence, jealousy and finally into madness;
teenager Carol Hopper, middle-aged Conrad and the Vietnam vet, Tommy,
who all in their isolation withdraw into themselves; Lucy, who has
literally lost her mind, and Jerry who loves and protects her; Alice
who is "half man, half woman" and who "embraces other people's lives,"
Laura and Edgar, who pass their ordered, proper and restrained days
while bursting with repressed passion for each other; and Antoine, the
bad talking saint, the irrepressible, effusive, loquacious and
ebullient lover of women and all the rest of life. These and many
others populate the town and the life of JUDEVINE and are brought to
the stage by David, the poet, who is the narrator of this play and who
observes all these others from his own isolated yet involved and loving
distance. Through a collection of lyrically beautiful and
compelling portraits of ordinary people, by turns raucous and bawdy,
delicate and painful, intensely funny, loving and angry, the characters
in JUDEVINE reveal to us the survival strength in the oppressed and
hurt. The human parade in this specific and particular and
forgotten place becomes the universal human parade itself, and
ultimately, JUDEVINE becomes an intensely passionate and caring song of
praise celebrating human nature. Minimal set, properties and costumes. The sound track is
created live and on stage by the acting ensemble. Simple lighting. JUDEVINE-IN
TWO ACTS is available in NEW AMERICAN PLAYS: 2, edited with an
introduction by Peter Filichia, Heinemann Educational Books, Inc., 361
Hanover Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801-3959
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PRODUCTION HISTORY OF JUDEVINE
Actor's Bridge Ensemble Theatre, Nashville, TN, February 5, 6, 7 and 11, 12, 13, 14
Portland Community College Theatre, Portland, OR, Nov 13, 14, 19--11 a.m. matinee, 20, 21, 22--2 p.m. matinee
Middlebury Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, VT, October 16, 17, 18
Paramount Theatre, Rutland, VT, October 10 & 11
Lost Nation Theatre, Montpelier, VT, September 19 - Oct 5
Old Castle Theatre, Bennington, VT, April 12, Benefit Reading, author in cast
William and Mary Theatre, Williamsburg, VA, March 27, 28, 29
Lost Nation Theatre, Montpelier, VT, April 19-May 13
Dorset Playhouse, Dorset, VT, March 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11
Nebraska Repertory Theatre, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, Lincoln, NE, October 5-14
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School performs a one-act version of JUDEVINE at Brookline High School, Brookline, MA, March 2
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School performs a one-act version of JUDEVINE at Brookline High School, Brookline, MA, March 4
Mainstage Theatre of New England College, The Open Door Theatre, Henniker, NH, September 28-October 1
Mainstage Theatre of New England College, The Open Door Theatre, Henniker, NH, June 30-July 3
Connecticut Repertory Theatre (at the University of Connecticut), Storrs, CT, October 28-November 7
Old Castle Theatre Company, Bennington, VT, June 11-20
A Reading of JUDEVINE: A PLAY IN ONE ACT, Strafford Town House, Strafford, VT, June 5
Evergreen Players at Colorado Community Theatre Coalition Festival, Fort Collins, CO, June 27-30
Harvard University, Harvard-Radcliffe Drama Club, Cambridge, MA, April 25-27
The Evergreen Players at Center/Stage, Evergreen, CO, March 15-17
Greendale
High School, (High School Version), Greendale, WI, January 4
& 5
Kieth Country Day School, Rockford, IL, Oct 28-30
Summer Repretory Theatre, Santa Rosa, CA, June 26-August 1, 1998
Santa Fe Community College, Gainsville, FL, April 2-11, 1998
Wayward Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, January
1-11, 1998
Yale University, New Haven, CT, October 24-November 2, 1996
Old Castle Theatre Company: Judevine: In Four Acts, Premier, Bennington, VT, October 4-26, 1996
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, January 28 -February 11, 1996
Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Palos Hills, IL, November 1995
ArtRise Theatre, South San Francisco, CA, September 8-23, 1995
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, March 23, 24, 25, 1995
Poet's Theatre of Cambridge, Boston, MA, December 1-18, 1994
Twice Struck By Lightning Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA, August 5-28, 1994
Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, IL, May 1994
Luther College, Decorah, IA, 11-16 March, 1994
American Inside Theatre, Genesee Depot, WI, March 9-27, 1994
New American Theatre, Rockford, IL, February 1994
Thomas Jefferson High School, (excerpts) Council Bluffs, IA, 22 January & 4 February 1994
New England College, Henniker, NH, November 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 1993
Equity Library Theatre, Chicago, IL, August 4-29 and Septemer 16-October 10 1993
Silk Road Theatre Company, The Matrix Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, March 12-?-May 3, 1992
Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Little Rock, AR, January 16, 17, 18, 1992
Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, AK, April 25-May 15, 1991
Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, TX, October 25, 26, 27 and November 1, 1990
The Theatre Project, Brunswick, ME, August 9-25, 1990
American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, CA, January 10-February 24, l990
The Old Castle Theatre Company, Bennington, VT, October 10-28, l989
Arena Stage, Washington, DC, May 21, l989, Staged Reading
Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota, FL, New Plays Festival, May 14, l989 (two ?shows), Staged Reading
The Western Stage, Salinas, CA, January 13, 14, 15, and February 10 and 11, l989
Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota, FL, December 11,1988, Staged Reading
The Old Castle Theatre Company, Bennington, VT, April 12-30, l988
The Gloucester Stage, Gloucester, MA, March 6, l988, Staged Reading
Vermont Repertory Theatre, Stowe Playhouse, Stowe, VT, October 16 and 17 and in Winooski, VT, October 21 through 24, Held Over, October 28 through 31, 1987
The Western Stage, Salinas, CA, June 11, 12, 19, July 26, and August 14 and 25, l987
The Performance Place at the Elizabeth Peabody House, Somerville, MA, May 2 and 3, l987, Staged Reading
The Boston Athenaeum, Boston, MA, April 5, l987, Staged Reading
Vermont Repertory Theatre, Winooski, VT, Vermont-New Hampshire Tour, September10-28, l986
Vermont Repertory Theatre, Winooski, VT, January 24-February 15, l986
McCarter Theatre, Stage Two, Princeton, New Jersey, January 17-29, l984
McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, Staged reading, as part of the annual Playwrights-at-McCarter Series, November 3, l980
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At once tough and tender,
[JUDEVINE] is not afraid to tell hard stories with a warm heart.
One
of the on-stage inhabitants of the fictional town of Judevine calls it
the "ugliest town in Northern Vermont." Well, that may be--but out of
its life has come a most beautiful, exquisite piece of
theatre....Budbill strokes and brushes this dramatic story-telling with
rare honesty, affection and grace--and with language so precise and
descriptive you will know immediately you're soul-deep in something
extraordinary.
Playwright
Budbill has a thoughtfully keen and gut grabbing sense of what makes
individuals tick, by themselves, in couples and in groups.
What
makes JUDEVINE so memorable is not just the intensity of its emotions,
the depth of its feeling, the absence of cloying sentimentality, the
hearty humor--and this play is loaded with humor--but also the
prodigious musicality with which it has been put together...[an]
extraordinary new play...a play that should find as wide an audience as
possible. Regional theatre literary managers take note!...A highly
theatrical and memorable evening of theater that dignifies both the art
Budbill serves and the people--his own people--who nourish his artistic
and social vision.
JUDEVINE is a beautifully
tender combination of theatre and poetry. Budbill's play presents us
with a vision of ourselves.
JUDEVINE...glows with a
contagious compassion.
Go see JUDEVINE. It's
wonderful....David Budbill's script is rich and believable, full of
sass and heartbreak.
JUDEVINE
is a compilation of 20 years of poetry by Budbill describing a
backwoods village in present day Vermont, and because the play is
intimate glimpses of the unfathomable mystery of humanity...analogies
are made with such similar plays as Under Milkwood, Spoon River
Anthology and, of course, Our Town. However these comparisons are
ridiculous because JUDEVINE is a memorable theatre work that is
anything but cutesy, folksy and bucolic. It is rather a searing view of
a rural town in today's America.
.
. . an astonishing variety of characters. We come to care deeply about
them and to see the dignity inherent in the humblest of human beings.
JUDEVINE
as a poem-play sweeps the imagination across paths of folk the likes of
which are rarely seen let alone heard from....Ultimately the show is a
beautiful song of praise, celebrating human nature.
JUDEVINE
achieves that rare phenomenon, acclaim from the critics along with
appreciation from the people. What a joy to see an audience of 400
weeping and laughing and squirming...what satisfaction to hear a
dramatic presentation in which each word is so well considered, each
thought so cleanly limned, each line so deeply true--a presentation, in
short, in which the actors speak poetry...in which the characters
speak, although roughly and comfortably, with precision and
grace....The success of JUDEVINE is a tribute to the power of truth,
affirming that when audiences see and hear the truth, they will
recognize it and respond to it.
It's
easy to think of JUDEVINE as a late-20th century variation on Thornton
Wilder's "Our Town." Easy, but wrong. Budbill's work is closer in
purpose and effect to William Faulkner--both use a small distinct place
to examine the world....Budbill has populated his JUDEVINE with
intensely real people.
The
script is innovative, funny, likable...intelligent, different and
articulate...a spirited new work. JUDEVINE...deserves the highest
praise.
Those
who scoff at the thought of experimental theatre should go see--and
hear--JUDEVINE. It is so superbly written and so beautifully performed
that this critic resented having to take notes instead of sitting
back--no, sitting forward--and being transported to the mountains of
Vermont.
David Budbill's intriguing
JUDEVINE...is a warm and wistful, sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious
glimpse at small town life.
This humane celebration and
haunting examination of tangled souls provides a glimpse into forgotten
lives.
Haunting
beauty mixed with broad comedy exuberantly expressed...the shortest two
hours of uncontrollable entertainment imaginable.
[In]
JUDEVINE...there are repeated small jolts of surprise, pain, affection,
delight--you name it--that come out of the unpredictability of
carefully observed, precisely detailed characters...the energy, pain
and joy of the place swells and courses through them....from tender
sadness to raunchy gut-busting humor.
Budbill
leaps deftly between pathos and comedy, never lingering in
sentimentality; he keeps his edges hard....JUDEVINE is a lyrical,
funny, earthy work, full of sweetness and darkness, about the joys and
troubles of life.
Mingling
the sweetness of Thornton Wilder, the raunchiness of Lenny Bruce, and
the format of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood. JUDEVINE has earned
tremendous acclaim.
Budbill
is a superb storyteller with a fine sensitivity and a wonderful way
with words....The people of Judevine are people like the rest of us:
ordinary, imperfect, unique....JUDEVINE flows with power and grace.
Fictional
JUDEVINE may be rooted in Vermont, but it represents much of forgotten
America....Budbill is a marvelous storyteller and ACT's nine actors
create 20 vivid, distinctive characters....JUDEVINE displays ACT's
strength, depth and ingenuity better than any show this season.
JUDEVINE
is a fine, moving, intriguing play...written in a rough free verse
crowded with fine images....JUDEVINE reminds you that the glory of
theatre is not story or scene--it is the human voice.
Budbill
has fashioned his poems about the little town into an uncommonly
beautiful play....In Budbill's Vermont, marked by the cyclical seasons,
everything changes. Against the resilience of nature, he tells of the
impermanent humankind....The pleasures of Budbill's JUDEVINE meanwhile
are likely to last awhile.
Also available: two other
Judevine related plays:
JUDEVINE: IN THREE ACTS and TWO FOR CHRISTMAS
phone: (212) 713-1633
Literary and Theatrical Agent:
Susan Schulman,
The Susan Schulman Literary Agency,
454 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
fax: (212) 581-8830
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Last updated: 11/27/2009