In the Wake

Lisa Kron

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781559367295
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Arte dramático americano

"Funny, moving, and undeniably sexy. The heady blend of smart dialogue and characters...makes it a candidate to be the Angels in America of the Bush II decade."— San Francisco Chronicle

"The two works [ Angels in America and In the Wake ] use a volatile chapter in American history as background in their exploration of how the sociopolitical maladies of an age play out in the personal conduct of characters."— Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

Lisa Kron, author of Broadway's Well and the OBIE-winning solo show 2.5 Minute Ride, has taken on the big question of our country's character. On the Thanksgiving after the controversial 2000 election, political junkie Ellen gathers with family and friends in her cramped New York apartment. But she soon discovers—with an unexpected passionate encounter—that ideas about America and our own selves are not as fixed as they once seemed. A play with plenty of humor and passion to go with its politics, Kron's work premiered last year at Berkeley Rep and Los Angeles' Center Theater Group, and debuted at The Public Theater in New York this fall.

Lisa Kron 's plays have been performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, and around the world. She is a founding member of the award-winning theater group The Five Lesbian Brothers, and teaches playwriting at Yale University.

Act One

The present.

Lights up on Ellen. She’s mid-thought in a conversation with her (unseen) friend, Judy, searching for a way to describe her confusion with the current state of things.

ELLEN: Have you ever known a moment like this?

I haven’t. I don’t remember ever feeling like this. It’s . . . an incomprehensible time. On the one hand everything seems fine. I mean, not fine, maybe, but recognizable. Like, not fine but you can see fine, you can see that fine is down the road.

And on the other hand, it feels like nothing’s fine; it’s like we’ve crashed into a brick wall, full speed, and we’re mortally wounded. We’re sitting in this smashed-up car and we’re broken and bleeding—but, the thing that is so super weird about this moment is that somehow we still think we’re fine. We’re in the broken car and we’re broken and we’re, like, listening to the radio and, I don’t know, sort of idly chatting about, “Hmm, what if this car crashes?” And not registering that it’s already happened.

I mean . . . I don’t know if that’s happened. That’s what I’m saying. Everything feels familiar and yet totally unrecognizable, and I don’t know how to negotiate that.

There must be a blind spot somewhere. You know what I mean? There’s got to be some huge thing we’re not seeing. Because if you can’t figure out how you ended up so far off the path you thought you were on, it must be because there was some huge-ass thing you weren’t seeing. Right?

There must be a blind spot

I think that must be right. And I think we . . .

Well . . .

I

have to look back over these past years and . . . suck it up . . . and try to find that blind spot.

Scene 1

Projections: Coverage of the still-undecided 2000 election.

The projections iris down to the TV in Ellen and Danny’s East Village apartment. It’s Thanksgiving, 2000.

Ellen stands, staring at the TV, transfixed, holding a phone in one hand and the remote in the other. Danny enters from the kitchen with paper Thanksgiving decorations and Scotch tape. He wraps his arms around Ellen from behind. He watches with her for a second.

DANNY: They’re going to be here soon. (Beat) You might want to think about turning that off.

ELLEN: I cannot believe the ruthlessness of the Republicans. Listen to this bullshit. It’s . . . It’s . . . It’s . . . Oh my God, I can’t believe it.

DANNY (Singing a meandering, made-up song): Happy Thanksgiving, it’s a Happy Thanksgiving, where the turkeys run free, you should turn off the TV . . .

ELLEN (Her focus on the TV unbroken): I will in a minute . . .

(The phone in Ellen’s hand rings. She answers before the end of the first ring.)

Hey . . . It means that even if the vote count changes to Gore’s favor, the Florida State Legislature is going to send Republican delegates to the electoral college . . . Well, I assume if Gore has the votes his delegates would also go . . . Yes, there’d be two opposing sets of delegates from Florida at the Electoral Colle...