We're Gonna Die

Young Jean Lee

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781559364430
• eBook ISBN:
  9781559367851
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

"Sly, weird, and thoroughly winning . . . Bracing, funny, and, yes, consoling."—The New York Times

"Young Jean Lee will give you whiplash. Her ability to stake out aesthetic territory and then abruptly abandon it makes her unpredictable; her tendency to excel at each new genre makes her terrifying. In the enormously touching cabaret-style We're Gonna Die, Lee jettisons everything that has armored this au courant young playwright against the world. . . . Lee purchases our hearts with her bravery's own coin."—Time Out New York

Inspired by her personal experiences with despair and loneliness, the Obie Award–winning playwright-provocateur and her band Future Wife create a life-affirming show that anyone can perform, about the one thing everyone has in common: we're all gonna die. Each book includes a CD of all six songs and eight monologues performed by David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Adam Horowitz, and others.

Young Jean Lee has been hailed as "one of the best experimental playwrights in America" by Time Out New York. She has written and directed nine shows in New York with Young Jean Lee's Theater Company and toured her work to over twenty cities around the world. Her other plays include The Shipment, Lear, and Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven. Awards include two Obies, the Festival Prize of the Zuercher Theater Spektakel, a Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Artist Award.

WE’RE GONNA DIE

PRODUCTION HISTORY

We’re Gonna Die premiered in April 2011 at Joe’s Pub in New York City. It was co-produced by 13P (Maria Goyanes, Executive Producer) and Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company (Young Jean Lee, Artistic Director; Caleb Hammons, Producing Director). It was written by Young Jean Lee, directed by Paul Lazar and produced by Caleb Hammons. The choreography was by Faye Driscoll, the costume design was by Roxana Ramseur, the lighting design was by Cindy Shumsey; the sound engineer was Thanasis Psarros, the dramaturg was Mike Farry, the associate director was Morgan Gould, the production supervisor was Sunny Stapleton and the creative consultant was Eric Dyer. It was performed by:

Michael Hanf	DRUMMER
Nick Jenkins	BASS GUITARIST
Benedict Kupstas	GUITARIST 2
Young Jean Lee	SINGER
Tim Simmonds	GUITARIST 1

We’re Gonna Die was developed in part through a residency at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space program (space at 14 Wall Street is donated by Capstone Equities), and was presented with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

We’re Gonna Die was remounted in September 2012 and again in August 2013 at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater (Paige Evans, Artistic Director) at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. It was produced by Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company (Young Jean Lee, Artistic Director; Aaron Rosenblum, Producing Director). It was written by Young Jean Lee, directed by Paul Lazar and produced by Aaron Rosenblum. The choreography was by Faye Driscoll, the costume design was by Roxana Ramseur, the lighting design was by Tyler Micoleau; the sound designer was Jamie McElhinney, the dramaturg was Mike Farry, the associate director was Morgan Gould and the production supervisor was Sunny Stapleton. It was performed by:

Michael Hanf	GUITARIST 1
Andrew Hoepfner	BASS GUITARIST
Benedict Kupstas	GUITARIST 2
Young Jean Lee	SINGER
Booker Stardrum	DRUMMER

AUTHOR’S NOTE

All of the stories in this show are true, but not all of them happened to me, so although I originally performed the piece, the character of “Singer” is not meant to be me. Instead, the show is designed for anyone to be able to perform as themselves without adopting a theatrical persona. For that reason, performers should feel free to make whatever small changes are necessary in order to make the text feel natural for them to perform.

The band should be good, with real musicians who have interesting takes on the songs. Once they enter, they remain onstage for the rest of the show. During the monologues, they watch and listen in stillness. In the original production, the arrangements grew more full and more complex, song-by-song, over the course of the show.

A stage is set up with instruments and microphones on stands.

There is upbeat pre-show indie pop music.

An Announcer, wearing ordinary street clothes, enters and goes to one of the microphones.

The Announcer introduces the piece and warms up the crowd without mentioning any of the performers’ names or creating any expectation that a star is about to take the stage. In the original production, we used the following text. Whatever speech you come up with, it should end like ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• We’re Gonna Die
• Chord Sheets
• About the Author
• Album Credits and CD