Gum

Karen Hartman

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781559362139
• eBook ISBN:
  9781559368261
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

In Karen Hartman’s "juicyfruit tragedy," two young sisters discover new appetites within the walls of their father’s garden. Gum explores the need to tame nature in a fictional fundamental country where the title candy is contraband and every desire has its price. "A brief, intense, beguiling, sensual, witty, impassioned, deeply moving and brightly burnished gem"—San Francisco Examiner. Also includes The Mother of Modern Censorship.

Karen Hartman is the author of Girl Under Grain, Troy Women and Alice: Tales of a Curious Girl. She is a native of San Diego who lives in Brooklyn and is currently the playwright-in-residence at Princeton University.

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Gum

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This play is dedicated to Maria Irene Fornes

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Gum began as a project for the Playwriting Program at the Yale School of Drama (Stan Wojewodski, Dean; Mark Bly, Chair of Playwriting), where it was produced as a workshop in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 23, 1996. It was directed by Eleanor Holdridge, with sets by Kris Stone, costumes by Anne Lalarb and Scott Pask, lights by Jane Shaw, sound by Malcolm Nicholls, dramaturgy by Scott Hamlin and stage management by Maureen Dunleavy. The cast was as follows:

RAHMI	Sheryl Anderson
LINA	Magaly Colimon
AUNTIE	Annette Granucci
INAYAT	Scott Reeves
YOUNG MAN	Evan Dexter Parke

Gum was presented as a workshop production at the MACumba Festival by RJS Productions (now Page 73 Productions; Nicole Fix, Liz Jones, Asher Richelli and Daniel Shiffman, Producing Directors) in New York City on February 23, 1998. It was directed by Jean Randich, with original music by Kim D. Sherman, sets by Klara Zieglerova, costumes by Anita Yavich, lights by Matthew E. Adelson, sound by Robert Murphy and stage management by Joel Garland. The cast was as follows:

RAHMI	Laura Flanagan
LINA	Julia Dion
AUNTIE	Dale Soules
INAYAT	Michael Potts
YOUNG MAN	Daniel Blinkoff

Gum premiered at Center Stage (Irene Lewis, Artistic Director; Peter W. Culman, Managing Director) in Baltimore on March 7, 1999. It was directed by Tim Vasen, with original music by Kim D. Sherman, sets by Myung Hee Cho, costumes by Anita Yavich, lights by Matthew Frey, sound by Sten Severson, dramaturgy by Jill Rachel Morris and stage management by Julianne Franz and Valerie Stedman Nolan. The cast was as follows:

RAHMI	Miriam A. Laube
LINA	Millie Chow
AUNTIE	Dale Soules
INAYAT	Joseph Kamal
YOUNG MAN	Danyon Davis

Gum opened at the Magic Theatre (Larry Eilenberg, Artistic Director; Diane Terp, Managing Director) in San Francisco on April 21, 1999. It was directed by Jean Randich, with original music by Kim D. Sherman, sets and lights by Rick Martin, costumes by Meg Neville, sound by David Molina and Chris Webb, dramaturgy by Kent Nicholson and stage management by Karen Runk. The cast was as follows:

RAHMI	Laura Flanagan
LINA	Esperanza Catubig
AUNTIE	Helen Shumaker
INAYAT	Aldo Billingslea
YOUNG MAN	Omar Metwally

Gum opened at Women’s Project & Productions (Julia Miles, Artistic Director; Patricia Taylor, Managing Director) in New York City on October 6, 1999. It was directed by Loretta...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Gum
• The Mother of Modern Censorship: A Play in One Act
• About the Author