Taylor enters and talks with Emma, who calls him creepy. Further Reading
You might get the wrong idea about what he was up to, what he worked so hard to say. A. J. Sobczak and Frank N. Magill. The Tates live on a farm where they formerly raised sheep and grew avocados. Wesley assures his father that the gang will get him, and Weston takes off for Mexico. The play alludes to the golden age of motoring when Ella's prized Packard is mentioned, and also blown up, which signifies the . Feet stopping. The man tells her that he was going to knock but that there was no door. Wesley deduces that Taylor is the one who sold Weston worthless desert property in the first place. Dads voice. View All Characters in Curse of the Starving Class, THIS FEATURE IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PRO MEMBERS. The use of the artichokes in Curse of the Starving Class suggests both the realistic and mythic aspects of Shepards dramatic strategy. The refrigerator is the focal point of the action; each member of the family is obsessed with its emptiness. He tells Weston that he butchered the lamb for food, but Weston yells at him and shows him the newly stocked refrigerator. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. The agriculture drew refugees from the Dust Bowl states during the Great Depression, and poor people thronged to southern California. Pushing the clothes to the floor, she falls asleep on the table. Curse of the Starving Class is a play by Sam Shepard, considered the first of a series on family tragedies. [6], The play was produced at Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, in February 2000, directed by Jim Simpson and featuring Kristine Nielsen, Guy Boyd, Mandy Siegfried, Danny Seckel, Paul Boocock, Ron Faber, Steve Mellor, Dan Moran and Chime Serra. Shoulder smashing. Researchers have studied how much of our personality is set from childhood, but what youre like isnt who you are. The film was written by Bruce Beresford and directed by J. Michael McClary. Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. Wesley sets up a folding enclosure and puts a sick lamb inside. Sam Shepard: A Casebook. 28 Feb. 2023 . Ella, Wesley's mother, enters the kitchen. Then softly crying. She climbs up and stretches out on it as Wesley, completely naked, enters. men who came back from the war, had to settle down, raise a family and send the kids to schooland they just couldnt handle it. That was what Shepard knew as a boy. Maggie Siff, as the wife of an abusive man, in Shepards story of a broken family. His partner, Slater, enters after him, playing with the skinned lamb carcass. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Gale Cengage Employee communication . Sergeant Malcom is the police officer who arrives at the house to inform Ella that Emma has been arrested for riding a horse into the Alibi Club and shooting it up. Emma, angry, leaves. 1970s: Oil and gas shortages precipitate an energy crisis in the United States. He is easily taken advantage of and when his debts are not paid, it takes an even more terrifying toll on the people close to him. Later, when Wesley and Ella talk, Ella tells him that she is going to sell the house and use the money to go to Europe. I could feel myself in my bed in my room in this house in this town in this state in this country. Then I heard the Packard coming up the hill. Vol. His symbolsthe lamb, the broken door, the refrigerator, the old carjump out at the viewer and almost announce I am a symbol! But Shepard uses them less as true symbols than as evocative images. Weston is proud of Emma, saying that it takes guts to do something like that at her age. 14.
He tells Weston that he has butchered the lamb for food. When the Spanish first explored the area of Los Angeles and the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, the region was arid, almost desert. Wesley protests feebly. "Curse of the Starving Class" was praised for its handling of dark comedy that finishes with a sinister surrealism. The man tells her that his name is Taylor and that he is looking for her mother. No answer. Allow Necessary Cookies & Continue Word Count: 713. The play opens with Wesley putting pieces of a broken down door into a wheelbarrow. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Returning, Emma asks, What kind of a family is this?. Vol. Weston considers fleeing to Mexico, and Wesley muses about finding Taylor to get the money for the desert land back. Emma then yells down that she is going to take the horse and leave. Ellis, the owner of the bar where Weston drinks, enters with $1500 and says he owes Weston for the sale of the house; Ella orders her son to throw him out. When Ella asks what Emma is carrying, Emma tells her that they are the materials for her 4-H demonstration on how to cut up a frying chicken, and then she immediately starts looking for her chicken in the refrigerator. Man throwing up. In act 1, while Ella prepares her breakfast, Wesley has a long speech in which he recounts his sense of life while lying in bed, not simply on this night but also on many other nights. Taylor is a lawyer who is involved in real estate and is looking to buy the property from Ella. . The symbols work together to undermine the realism of the play. Whatever the cause, the Tates will do just about anything to raise themselves out of the downward spiral into which theyve fallen. Keys turned off. Log in here. My heart was pounding. But is it even possible, at this point? The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. The eagle carried the cat away, and they fought until both came crashing down. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Shepard makes similar realistic and mythic use of costumes; the clothes in which Weston is first seen also fit Wesley. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. He is the representative for several large corporations that are looking to buy up land. Mans voice. Gale Cengage Instead, it chooses to bring the eagle down, even if it means certain doom for the cat as well. Later, she becomes so angry about Ellis buying their house, she rides the family horse into his bar and shoots the place full of holes. Ella has called the police because Weston threatened to kill her, but she doesnt leave right away; Wesley is upset that his mother has summoned outside forces to their home. Randall argues here that, although Curse of the Starving Class is indeed a more realistic play than the works that preceded it, Shepard retains a use of language in this play that we do not ordinarily associate with realistic drama., "Curse of the Starving Class - Bibliography and Further Reading" Drama for Students . Wesley refuses to stop Emma, and Ella begins to tell him about her plans to sell the house. Mumbling about his experience flying planes in the Second World War, he passes out again. date the date you are citing the material. Ellis enters, laughing at the passed-out Weston who is slumped on the kitchen table. Word Count: 302. This act opens with Weston, who is now clean, and sober. He is a wicked man, a villain in the story. She often changes topics when she feels it in her best interest and tries to ignore the things going on immediately around her. I could see the trees being lit one after the other by the lights, then going back to black. Looking at the lamb carcass, she asks Wesley to help her remember the story Weston always told about the eagle. Ed. Also inevitable, and also treated as a curse, is Emmas menstruation (which is another image of the inside escaping to the outside). When he returns, he is wearing Westons overcoat, tennis shoes, and baseball cap, and he says that he butchered the lamb for food. In addition, playwright Sam Shepard is himself an actor and can be seen in over a dozen wide-release films (many with his longtime partner Jessica Lange), including Country, Places in the Heart, and The Right Stuff. 14. Randall, Phyllis R., Adapting to Reality: Language in Shepards Curse of the Starving Class, in Sam Shepard: A Casebook, edited by Kimball King, Garland, 1988. The play opens on an image of the breakdown of the barrier between outside and inside, the shattered front door that allows all sorts of undesirable elements to enter the house. Ellis enters, laughing at the passed-out Weston who is slumped on the kitchen table. He tells her that as he put them on he could feel his own essence slipping out of him, and his father's essence coming into him. When Wesley tells him that Ella is thinking of selling the house, Weston explodes and threatens to kill her and Taylor. Its themes include the struggle for dignity, moral obligations to family members, and the effect of money in America. Emma returns, still furious, and the three begin an argument about the starving class and whether or not they are part of it. Ella Tate is the mother of the family. Obviously, these two motifs are related to each other, for disease is the intrusion of an entity that should be kept outside the body. During their argument, Wesley goes to Emma's posters and begins to urinate on them. Marranca, Bonnie, ed. Packard disappearing. The lifters have a sound like nothing else. California suffers from rolling blackouts, and the major population centers of the East Coast are warned about similar blackouts or brownouts. Swearing he will kill Taylor and Ella, Weston staggers against the table and falls asleep on top of it. He exits again and returns with a lamb, which he puts in the enclosure. Sound of door not opening. We're what the school psychologist calls -- products of a broken home. As she speaks, her daughter, Emma enters and joins the conversation in progress. Both musicals, based on immensely popular eighties movies, feature performers who help you see the narrative behind all the flash. Some critics consider it part of a Family Trilogy that includes Buried Child (1979) and True West (1980). Wesley says that Emma doesn't want to do it just because she is on the rag, so she throws down her markers and gets up to add the water. Floating. Upgrade to PRO Sign Up for PRO to view suggested audition pieces! Urban Sprawl Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. Taylor then enters and Ella tells him what is happened. My listening was afraid. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall
Act Two opens with siblings Emma and Wesley hard at work on tasks that are interestingly, stereotypically gender appropriate: Emma is recreating her charts on how to properly cut a frying chicken (since her brother pissed on them in the last act), and Wesley is rebuilding the door that his father broke down. Michael Venzor was featured in a 2011 Equity Showcase of "Curse of the Starving Class" by Sam Shepard. Weston begins to tell Wesley about how he began to see the poison in his own father, and how Wesley can see it in him. I am aware that I have taken on characters that are outside of my RACE, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, DIALECT, and AGE. Christian H. Moe. I could hear the coyotes. The curtain opens on Wesley again, who this time is building a new front door for the house. Inside has become a hollow, void place to the family, and as a result, they want outElla to Europe, Emma to Mexico, Wesley to Alaska, Weston to an alcoholic stupor. Caught up in this are families such as the one in Curse of the Starving Class, whose land is coveted by subdivision developers like Taylor. The cast was as follows: The play was revived Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre, running from July 30, 1985 to February 16, 1986. [7], Curse of the Starving Class won the 197677 Obie Award for Best New American Play.[8]. Episode 10: Sam Shepards Curse of the Starving Class Sam Shepard wasnt just a playwright but an actor himself, fully into the arts. Wesley enters, sets up a small fenced enclosure in the kitchen, exits, and reenters with a lamb. Monologues for Females: THAT DAY (adapted from Inside/Out by Michael Scanlon). . But treating Shepards stage paradigms superficially can lead to characterizations that miss the point of how his figures got to be heartbroken or angry in the first place. Important moments, themes, monologues:-gender roles-Emma's monologue about being a mechanic and swindling her mom out of money "Curse of the Starving Class - The Play" Survey of Dramatic Literature In an eerie way he is speaking neither to his mother nor directly to the audience; instead, the audience is allowed to hear his thought processes. The first motif almost overwhelms the play with its omnipresence. American Dreams: The Imagination of Sam Shepard. VerMeulen, Michael. Wesley enters and they discuss Weston's laundry and the best way to help the lamb with the maggots. to read our character analysis for Ella Tate and unlock other amazing theatre resources! 2023 . I could feel the headlights closing in. Emma walks out. The property requirements suggest a realistic, if not a naturalistic play. What he didnt know then, but worked out in glorious play after play, once hed found his vocation, was why, amid all the waste and destruction, a boys heart would still beat faster whenever his father drove up the road, a father confused about his family and his effect on them, lost to any idea of love, trying to catch dreams at the bottom of a bottle. Hes woken up with dew on the hood before. The curse on the family is described by both women as something that breeds internally in Weston and Wesley and is inevitable. Act 2 begins with the sounds of hammering. As his mother fries him some bacon for breakfast, he recalls the images going through his mind as he lay in bed listening to the splintering of the door. Just from my dad coming back. date the date you are citing the material. Cars line up for gasoline, and President Ford appoints an energy czar to head U.S. energy policy efforts. They menace the family a little and leave. Weston tells Wesley that he has decided to stay and fix up the house instead of leaving, no matter who holds the deed. Emma, by way of contrast, often shouts her lines from offstage. Ellis grabs the money back from Wesley (feeling that now he is owed for the damage to his bar), and the act closes as Ella agrees to come to the police station to pick up Emma. Wesley then leaves and Ella begins to give a motherly talk on what happens during menstruation and what cannot be done during the cycle. Their conversation quickly turns to an issue of thematic importance: restlessness and dissatisfaction in heartland America. Emma begins a rant about how she raised the chicken and hand fed it every day, then killed and cleaned it and her mother has gone and boiled it. . Word Count: 57. He then came inside and took a bath, made a big breakfast, drank some coffee, and did everyone's laundry. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. The men tell Wesley, still calling him Weston, that he is to pass on the warning to his father and they leave. 14. New landPlymouth Rock, California, Alaska, or anywhere in betweenis settled and cleared for farming or industry by rugged individualist pioneers; more people move near that newly desirable land, and towns spring up; the towns grow so big and encroaching that the rugged individualists feel crowded by city life (or are unable, economically, to survive) and move on to find new frontiers. Ella wants Wesley to go after Emma and persuade her not to take the horse, but he doesn't want to; he doesn't care if she leaves . "Curse of the Starving Class - Media Adaptations" Drama for Students In the fridge, she finds some bacon and bread and, as she fries up the last of the familys meat, Wesley thinks about himself and his father and recalls a memory: I was lying there on my back. Makes me feel lonely. Ellas loneliness, or the incredible amount of adrenaline she has to produce in order to keep her body togetherIm not sure about her soul; shes not that deepmakes her hungry. Whatever the cause, the Tates will do just about anything to raise themselves out of the downward spiral into which they've fallen. The last date is today's Mans voice. All monologues are property and copyright of their owners. We only provide suggested audition monologues or songs for an individual character if our system finds content that matches a character's traits. Wesley and Ella talk about Westons eagle story as the play ends. Curse of the Starving Class is a 1994 American drama film directed by J. Michael McClary and starring James Woods, Kathy Bates, Randy Quaid, Henry Thomas and Louis Gossett Jr. [1] It is based on Sam Shepard 's 1977 play of the same name. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The entire upkeep of the farm falls on the shoulders of their idealistic son, Wesley, the only one who seems to have some hope for the family left. He asks what happened to Wesley, who had clearly been beaten up. It is shocking to see a live lamb on stage and even more shocking to see it bloody and dead; similarly, the centrality of the refrigerator to every scene and the constant opening and closing of its door reminds us of the theme of hunger and starving, but Shepard refuses to nail down its meaning for us. While Ella eats her breakfast, Wesley urinates on Emmas charts. Shelves: plays, aty20. Then I could picture my Dad driving it. Shifting unconsciously. He begins eating everything in the refrigerator. Door slams. 28 Feb. 2023 , Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. At first, Weston can't remember who all he has loaned money to, and begins to rant about how this is his home and nobody ought to be able to take it from him because he has nowhere else to go.
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