Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
___________________________
MASTER’S THESIS
___________________________
This is to certify that the Master’s Thesis of
Lisa Gail Leaverton
for the thesis requirement for the Master of Fine Arts
degree in Playwriting (Theatre Arts) at
the May 2010 graduation.
Thesis Committee:
Arthur Borreca, Thesis Supervisor
i
n
ONE PLUM
by
Lisa G. Leaverton
Copyright
All Rights Reserved
February 15, 2010
1024 Walnut St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 400-8676
i
Copyright by
LISA LEAVERTON
May 2010
All rights reserved
ii
To my Mother for her noble efforts to shore
everything up.
iii
There came a time when the risk to remain tight
in the bud was more painful than the risk it took
to blossom.
Anais Nin
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ONE PLUM has progressed through an ensemble process with the input and
guidance of Katie Pearl, Director; in addition to overseeing the development of the script
into a full-length work, her numerous contributions include many of the exercises used in
ensemble to generate the unseen world of the insects. Dramaturg Kate Stopa has worked
with the play since its earliest draft. The following performers participated in the
workshops and contributed to the original experiments and exercises: Emily
Anderson,Jessica Egli-Davis. Samuel Hawkins, Nicole Hussein, Marek Muller, Mollie
Laylin, Daisy McKinley, Megan Norman, and Joshua Raheim
The work was performed as a short play in its first draft at Eclectic theatre in
HURRICANE SEASON One-Act Play Festival in Los Angeles in August, 2009, directed
by Levi Packer with the following cast: Stephanie Edmonds as MARY, Jacob Ortuno as
ADAM, Melissa Baez, Theresa DeVeaux and Beth Ricketson as WAY OF THE WILD.
The work received the Graduate Playwriting Award from The University of
Iowa Center of Human Rights in honor of the 10th
Anniversary of The Center and an
excerpt was read at The Old Capitol Senate Chamber in Iowa City in Oct. 2009 by the
following actors: Patricia Clark as MARY, Maggie Conroy as WAY OF THE WILD,
with Judy Leigh Jones reading WAY OF THE WILD narration, Patrick Reynolds as
WAY OF THE WILD, and Carl Rux as ADAM.
0
INTRODUCTION
One Plum, a full-length theatre work and poetic meditation on ecology, explores
the Garden of Eden myth anew, as a comedy of human relations within the natural world.
Centering around a plum ripening, and the humans, insects and animals awaiting it, the
play progresses through small events of nature in microcosmic detail, below and above
Mary and Adam’s backyard. The work is an experimental proposition in which human
character is subverted to make space for the equally compelling lives of other species.
The play uses inherently theatrical structures found in nature, ecological systems
in plant biology, for example and opens the view to details we don’t ordinarily see, such
as a blossom opening petal by petal. The non-traditional text formatting, in which
characters are separated by columns, is used to help retain the simultaneous presence of
the elements, and also to work as a score, in its articulation of the invisible world of
insects and plants.
Like most of my work, the play’s experience is achieved not only through poetic text,
but sound, visuals and movement, which combine to create a listening environment.
Although the work was generated in ensemble, and would benefit by ensemble work, this
text-based work may be reconstituted and interpreted by a director. My notation strategy
has been to indicate flexibility to a director in how she/he interprets the levels of text,
while offering thorough documentation of the process used before, as an optional
resource for a director.
My hope is that the work challenges an audience to invest in non-human and human
events equally. I explore the urgency in seemingly unimportant activities, such as finding
1
food or securing a mate, the failure of which might potentially lead to the demise of an
organism or species. I want the dizzyingly large universe to open through tiny details as
Adam recounts scientific facts to Mary as she sleeps. I hope my audience feels their own
eyes widening along with Mary’s as she witnesses the natural events, and loneliness
along with Adam, upon facing the infinite, and futility in trying to control a small world
that does not respond to rationality, but continues to spiral out of control, endangered by
human actions in ways unforeseeable. By refusing a traditional route to character, I hope
to inspire awe in our planet through emptying the expression of entitlement to which
humans cling at the expense of other species.
2
CHARACTERS
MARY: In her 30’s.
ADAM: In his 30’s. MARY’S husband.
THE WAY OF THE WILD: A shifting composite non-gendered force rather than a
character, fulfilled by a minimum of 5-6 actors/dancers/performers, 3 female and 2 male,
or 4 female and 2 male actors. The role amplifies through sound and movement the
process/nature of weeds, insects, animals, the elements, and a plum tree as well as human
and AUDIENCE “nature.” Multiple actors fulfilling the role of WAY OF THE WILD
will allow for “the spirit of the hive” or idea of a “super-organism” to be present in the
work. The actions should illustrate text only obliquely or energetically rather than
striving for realism. The AUDIENCE behavior is characterized as belonging to the
domain of WAY OF THE WILD. The actors inhabiting all these roles may fluctuate, and
function as constituent parts of each life form. The play will begin and end with the
weeds, those of which were before us and will be here after us.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
All roles are non-specific with regards to ethnicity or body-type, but the roles should
preferably be balanced to represent ethnic diversity so that “nature’s” own creative
variety is represented.
Total cast: 8 actors will be optimal, 3 male actors and 5 female actors
1 female actor, 30-40 years of age
1 female actor, 20-25 years of age
2 female actors-40-50 years of age
1 female actor, 60-70 years of age
1 male actor, 30-40 years of age
2 male actors, 40-60 years of age (If a cast of 7 is used, only 1 male actor, 40-60 will
be needed.)
3
NOTES ON TEXT
Spaces in the script, while they are empty of speech, are not empty moments, but
potent and full of listening. The poetry of the text should be maintained and tuned. This
piece is conceived to be an environmental experience, in addition to a theatrical event,
with text and acoustic sounds complementing each other, and fulfilling the overall
composition. The formatting is used to preserve simultaneity, or the presence of all
elements.
The italicized narrative passages may be approached as desired by a director. I
discovered that reading these or not will result in two very different experiences. In a
happy coincidence, a British actor read narration during the reading at The Center For
Human Rights. The exquisite delivery by Judy Leigh-Jones approximated the comedic
eloquence of nature documentary narration. In another reading, I experimented leaving
these out, allowing comedy to be achieved through the sparseness of text, and through
timing of action and silence. Each reading proved effective. I have indicated in
parentheses passages of text that is strictly technical and need not be read.
NOTES ON SOUND ENVIRONMENT
A live percussive sound environment invites audience to begin listening as they
enter. Opening and closing sound/movement sequences should slowly evolve, arising out
of communications between performers. Percussive surfaces may be incorporated into set
to be used by performers to communicate, in addition to vocalizations. Textures may be
4
incorporated into costumes, used by performers as percussive surfaces. Performers
should select rhythmic sequences from the text. These rhythms might include “They
wait/They listen/They begin,” p 64, or “It was imminent/It was longed for,” p 53. If they
are first introduced as rhythm, before occurring in the text as spoken word, the rhythms
will be perceived to sync up with text. The play concludes with sound. The continued
focus of performers will help audience resist the urge to disturb the environment with
applause.
NOTES ON COSTUMES AND MAKEUP
White makeup typically used in Butoh might be used on hands, forearms, and feet
of actors play WAY OF THE WILD, heightening the sense of relatedness, close, yet
foreign, between insects and humans. The makeup should also bring attention to the style
of movement, whereby the body is manipulated as though by puppetry as in Butoh.
NOTES ON PERFORMANCE METHODS
Any of the exercises in the appendix, found in the end pages of the script may be
used during the rehearsal process to create textures for the invisible world of insects and
to assist an ensemble in their ability to work with a range of dynamics. These dynamics
may be applied musically once the vocabulary of sounds and gestures is established to
range from a state of alertness to a state of urgency so that the smallest, most subtle
gestures may be read by audience and create a world of listening and urgency. In
addition, research materials are listed in the end pages.
5
SETTING
The home and backyard of MARY and ADAM. The modular stage platform is raised so
that the audience gaze rests fifteen inches above the platform, and so that the audience
may take in the view beneath as it occurs to them to look. The yard platform is broken
into units that can be removed as the world of insects or humans is disturbed or
rearranged. Three benches were used in workshop as mobile set pieces in a variety of
scenes: WAY OF THE WILD, enacting Weeds, positioned themselves beneath, hands,
arms, feet appearing above. At another point benches were up-ended by the beetles,
signaling a disturbance in the yard, and replaced when calm was restored. The benches
also became trees when rested on their ends. The platform should have irregular edges,
indicating a single yard broken away. This is open to interpretation. It might be a jigsaw
puzzle or more rough, organic cross-section of earth. Audience seating may fit around its
edges, which might be covered with sod so that audience views each other from the neck
up across the lawn, and smells the dirt and grass, and so there is a subterranean effect.
Somewhere in the platform is an opening, so the characters may access the area below
the stage platform, and enter and exit. There is the shadow of a plum tree.
SCENES:
Hot Summer
Short Autumn
Warm Winter
Early Spring
Hot Summer
Autumn
6
MARY and ADAM are distracted from listening and looking for so long. Their senses are
stretched. They are preoccupied. There are long delays between responses, as though
ADAM and MARY barely catch the ball before it touches the ground. Sometimes they
miss and the other person has already moved on. It is possible they only have a vague
recollection of what has been said since it was so long before.
8
The insects are on alert,
communicating to each
other, each with their
distinct movements and
sounds, positioning.
The beetles encounter
obstacles, a clod of dirt,
another insect. Nothing
impedes them in their
determination.
Another season announces
itself.
HOT SUMMER
!
!
!
!
The eyes of THE WILD,
peer out from above and
below.
!
!
!
!
MARY has returned
from work.
In the shadow of the
plum tree, MARY
removes her dress,
crumpling it into a ball.
She tosses it into a far
corner of the yard. She
pulls on a pair of pants
and puts on her
gardening gloves.
!
MARY yanks at some
Weeds.
9
Weeds reach into the
space above, growing.
As MARY touches the
Weeds they disappear
below.
More Weeds appear from
below.
With each yank,
The weeds grow in
abundance despite
MARY’S efforts to
eradicate them.
The weeds are introduced.
Rough non-melodic tones,
almost indecipherable.
Again!
Another yank.
How?
Another yank.
A hard yank.
That’s what.
Over the line.
Go.
10
Bristly mallow.
Buttonweed.
Pennywort.
Lespedeza.
Plaintain.
Nettle.
Wild violet.
Clover!
!
Each time MARY pulls
one, another weed
replaces it.
!
The weeds claim their
ground solidly.
!
!
Milkweed!
Creatures are disturbed. A
fluttering. Flashes of
color. Bright sounds of
names flash, dart and
swirl sporadically.
These are the exclusive
messenger- pollinators.
Butterflies! Moths.
You’ll take over.
You’re choking the
others.
Mary pulls hard and
falls backward.
MARY pulls more
Weeds with more vigor.
11
Swallowtails…
Whites…
Sulfurs… monarchs…
pearly crescent-spot…
spring azure…
gray hairstreak.
!
!
The weeds claim their
ground, asserting their
names in flat nonmelodic
tones, barely
decipherable.
Aster!
More creatures are
disturbed. Flashes of
color. Names burst in
sporadic, bright tones.
Butterflies. Moths.
Whites… sulfurs… pearly
crescent-spot …
Caterpillar…
checkered skipper…
goldenrod sulfurs…
monarch…
gray hairstreak…
giant swallowtail…
!
Oh!
MARY yanks.
Brambles. Stickers.
Prickly. Burrs. Out.
MARY yanks.
MARY yanks somewhat
less energetically.
12
More weeds emerge from
below replacing pulled
weeds. A flat, unmelodic
assertion.
Clover!
More creatures are
disturbed. Colors. Names
flash in bright tones.
Butterflies and moths.
Tiger swallowtail… black
swallowtail… sulfurs…
Caterpillars…
gray hairstreak…
silver-spotted
skipper…
checkered skipper…
MARY slumps, takes off
her gloves and gives up.
MARY wipes her
forehead and lies in the
grass under the tree.
MARY recalls names she
has memorized.
Amber. Astrid?
Aurora…
36
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
She’s mumbling./She’s
turning. This way. Now
the other./Is she asleep
or is she awake.
!
!
!
!
!
.
!
!
!
SOUNDS of cicadas
predominate. A dramatic
finale.
MARY and ADAM sleep,
one leg touching.
Accidentally.
!
After a time, it is
Morning. After a time,
ADAM rises and grooms
for work. His
movements resemble an
insect’s. ADAM is cold.
ADAM pulls his pants
back on. He struggles
with his shoes, lying on
his back. Adam tries to
pull a sweater over his
head but it becomes
stuck.
ADAM bends and bends,
but this is not the right
action. Finally he is able
to pull the sweater over
his head. Now ADAM is
hot.
Mary mumbles from
sleep.
No.
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
38
The butterflies rise. The
Moths float elsewhere.
!
ADAM is stalked and
clasped like prey by
WAY OF THE WILD.
The functions of the tree
are spoken singly by WAY
OF THE WILD, yet
comprise the efforts of
the tree in its entirety.
Things are in motion.
!
Even before the end of the
growing season, before
their foliage dies down,
the trees must produce
buds for the next spring.
While they still have
energy. While you are
hanging about, the tree is
creating its next season.
When the workday is
done, ADAM wanders
back to his home,
talking to himself.
This day reminds me of
an afternoon in Tijuana.
Un-budging.
!
!
ADAM seems unaware
of danger.
40
Another season announces
itself.
WARM WINTER
He struggles to remove
his tie unsuccessfully.
He turns it around to the
back.
ADAM struggles with
his shoes. He unbuttons
his shirt. His struggles
Resemble an insect’s.
I’m home. It’s autumn,
I’m told.
ADAM Listens.
Stirring in her sleep.
Mmm…
MARY is half-asleep.
No. It’s already Winter.
I went to sleep. I said
now I’ll sleep. I’m so
tired.
!
And I woke up. My
alarm didn’t go off.
Is it Tuesday?
Mary falls back into a
sleep
41
Autumn is gone.
Haven’t you heard the
announcement from the
trees?
The parts of WAY OF
THE WILD are spoken
singly, yet comprise the
efforts of the tree in its
efforts to withstand the
chill.
The bark chills.
Our roots contract,
refusing moisture.
How do you suppose
we survive?
The evaporation of
moisture prevents
breakage of our limbs.
Were we to grow heavy
and freeze, we would
break. Shivering!
If you only knew that the
Snow cover keeps
everything warm beneath.
Winter’s begun just
now?
It’s darker than I
remembered.
42
The mammals stir.
They root in the
disappearing moist
pockets of soil and seek
the tenderest of the
cold roots, one last time.
ANIMALS are curled
together, as always, on
alert. They breathe.
Tiny gestures at low
volume.
The rabbit listens and
breathes. Its ears hear.
ADAM listens.
The wind.
MARY turns over.
Would you mind
terribly.
Sleepily.
She always cries at
night.
43
WAY OF THE WILD is on
high alert.
An owl is heard by
someone, but not
everyone.
Mary.
ADAM moves toward
MARY.
ADAM and MARY lie
feet to feet, their
position resembling that
of an insect’s.
ADAM listens.
Mary?
ADAM sleeps.
ADAM wakes up
suddenly.
Have you noticed?
!
!
I know.
44
!
!
!
!
WAY OF THE WILD on
high alert.
Why is it that
coincidence is so
satisfying?
Yesterday I noticed that
everything I had to do
began with a B?
Book
Bell
Bank
Birthday card.
ADAM turns to MARY
almost touches her face
but she turns over in her
sleep.
Sleepily.
I don’t know why.
MARY dreams of names.
Brett? Brice…
45
The Audience feels their
internal organs
warming them.
The rabbit has not escaped
notice of the owl. Its
shape appears upon the
snow.
Night sounds. Insects on
alert. Strange, unknown
sounds.
Spoken with alertness.
Upon the spring of the
rabbit’s foot, the owl has
plunged.
Why is it that sometimes
someone smiles at you
for no reason.
My teeth aren’t white.
I said… Oh, never mind.
ADAM rolls over again
and sleeps fitfully.
!
Spoken from sleep.
It will come again.
46
!
Happy Birthday.
Mary?
ADAM can’t sleep.
Have you heard of the
twenty-five hundred
pound snake? Forty-five
feet long? That’s no lie.
Sixty million years ago.
That’s not an
exaggeration. Have you
heard of the super-
volcano?
We were already extinct
once for two hundred
thousand years. I’m not
kidding.
Have you heard how
bacteria can seed
rainfall?
From sleep.
So quickly.
47
The audience wonders.
Is she dreaming./
She’s tossing and
turning.
!
!
I can’t sleep.
ADAM sits up abruptly.
Have you heard about
the tenderness of chimps
to other chimps?
About a chimp named
Knuckles? With cerebral
palsy?
None of the other
chimps were seen acting
aggressively toward
Knuckles due to his
disability.
Even the dominant male
showed gentleness,
helping groom
Knuckles.
From sleep.
To her, time seems
slow.
48
He’s sleeping./He’s not
awake./He’s still asleep.
A Bird sound.
It is still dark.
Have you heard about
the discovery of a new
planet three hundred and
ninety light years away?
It’s smaller than the
earth. Have you.
ADAM sleeps fitfully.
ADAM hears something
unknown and starts. He
listens.
Not entirely.
Did you know…
ADAM hears something.
He yawns.
Birds.
ADAM falls into a deep
sleep, finally. Morning
arrives.
MARY stirs, hearing the
birds.
Mmmm…it’s coming.
87
APPENDIX
Suzuki exercises are recommended for use in order to create a state of constant urgency
and readiness.
1.“Hive Mind” exercises help establish an ensemble dynamic, in which WAY OF THE
WILD continually re-establishes a leader.
2. A sound/body journey through space, performers crawling and vocalizing, then
traveling along a wall to explore kinesthetic connections between voice and body will
help performers to establish comfort with sound experimentation. They might be called to
consider how the pressure of their body against the wall might alter their voice.
3. Establishment of individual gestures can be created through viewpoints exercises, such
as “statues” and developed as follows:
Gestures by tempo: slowed, sped up
Gestures by volume: magnified, diminished
Gestures paired with sound
4. Listening to real nature sound recordings, performers can pick an individual voice and
track it. It need not be realistic or a facsimile of real nature. A chorus can then be created,
with the use of various directions:
Performers call to themselves, varying volume, tempo and pitch.
Performers respond to each other by slowing, speeding up. It need not be in sync. The
tempos might vary along with the qualities of each sound.
5. Viewing videotapes of insect behaviors, such as eating, mating and building can help
performers identify industrious movements based on these activities, and help the human
characters identify repetitive motions that resemble those of insects.
6. Passages of WAY OF THE WILD speech may be explored, with each ensemble
participant taking up parts of a body and ascribing a different function to the part,
allowing both stimulus and response in relation to other parts to inform the movements.
The text might be broken and spoken by various body parts, for example the passage
spoken by WAY OF THE WILD on pages 62-63, beginning with “The insects recoil” and
page on 64, beginning “The animals lap and lick to cool and soothe their fur.” These
passages might be divided into functions-brain, appendage, eyes, antennae and ears.
Performers might circle words that apply to their part or sense. This will form a ragged
whole, for example, the brain may speak text throughout, but will be prompted first by
senses.
7. Experiments with powders for the festival of pollination allow for exploration of
mutual relations between insects and flowers and what this might look like.
8. Research Materials might be distributed to the ensemble or viewed by the group.
88
RESOURCES
1. Charlton, Noel. Understanding Gregory Bateson; Mind Beauty, And The Sacred Earth. State University of New York Press; Albany, 2008. A discussion of ecology as mental process. 2. Attenborough, David. The private life of plants. Princeton University; Princeton, 1995. A glimpse into evolutionary biology with photos of “creative” adaptations. 3. Ennos, Roland & Sheffield, Liz. Plant Life. Wiley-Blackwell; Oxford, 2002. In-depth descriptions of survival adaptations of plants. 4. Nature’s services. Gretchen, Ed.; Daily Island Press; Washington D.C.,1997. Essays about services nature provides for human life. 5. Weisman, Alan. The World Without Us. St. Martins Press; NY, 2007 A proposal for the lasting effects of humans to the planet, and recovery of the planet upon the extinction of homo-sapiens. 6. Hoyt, Erich & Schultz, Ted. Insect Lives; Tales of mystery and romance from a hidden world. First Harvard University Press paperback edition, 2002.
A compendium of writing on insects reveals human opinion of insects, as much
as the secret activities of insects themselves. Useful for identifying detailed
behaviors.
7. Wilford, John Noble. Almost Human and Sometimes Smarter. NY Times Science
section.
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res+990DE4DA113FF934A25757C0A9619
C8B63&sec+&spon+&pagewanted+2>
Research on Chimps.
FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
Additional materials may be useful for establishing movement vocabulary. Any videotaped performance by the Open Theatre, including documentation of their process will be useful, as well as an exploration of Butoh.
89
BIO
Lisa Leaverton, Playwright, Collaborative Artist, Activist is from Brooklyn, NY and runs a
collective (inquire within) devoted to ephemeral theatre of the everyday. Lisa began
collaborating as a performance artist at the 14K Cabaret in Baltimore while studying violin
at the Peabody conservatory and took up playwriting. Lisa is working on Life’s Course; for
the worms, a full-length play about genetic warfare and seed homogenization.
One Plum, Iowa Center for Human Rights Playwriting Award, (2009), a full length
experimental theatre work, is in process in ensemble workshop with director Katie Pearl. It
was performed in its first incarnation as a one-act at Eclectic Theatre Company Hurricane
Season Playwriting Festival, August, 2009. Eco-drama, the sea cares nothing will have a
reading at Seattle Rep and tour with Northwest Play Alliance in June 2010. “PERHAPS,”
one act (2008) was performed by The Living Theatre for the National Free Night of Theatre
in Oct 2009, and at CSPS, Cedar Rapids in 2008. How Catherine D_____ Got Her
Expression, a one-act, exploring how one reclaims expression after trauma of violence,
was performed in December 2009 at University of Iowa. WHY LOVE DOESN’T
RECOGNIZE ITS NAME, Richard Maibaum Award (2008) a comedy about euphemistic
speech, had a staged reading at Portland Center Stage, NOW HEAR THIS! New Play
Series, June, 2008. A Blue We All Know (2008), about the loss of “space” for humans
and whales was featured in a Gallery production at University of Iowa, Oct. 2008. Theatre
of The Body (2001), a series of lecture demonstrations created in collaboration with
choreographer Katharine Livingston was sold out nightly at Philadelphia Fringe with
seating in a traditional dissection theatre for 12 audience members. Since graduating from
Peabody Music Conservatory, Lisa has costumed Theatre and Dance companies,
including Headlong Dance and Pig Iron Theatre Co. Lisa participated in foolsFURY Suzuki
and Viewpoints intensive and Goat Island Performance workshops, and KCCTF, 2007.
Recipient of a Felton scholarship, and Jean Schaal Scholarship, Lisa is a candidate for the
MFA in playwriting at University of Iowa. Lisa won first prize in Arts and Research in the
Jakobsen Conference on Civic Engagement.
90