FIFTH OF JULY

Lanford Wilson’s Drama-Logue Award-winning 1978 play
Virginia Princehouse-Allen Theater, Pomona College, 2007
Direction, Set, & Lighting Design by Darren Blaney
Costumes by Suzanne Schultz Reed

Cast:
Ken: Danny Zucker
Jed: Alexander Glassmann
June: Molly McKinney... Read More
John: Chris Coughlin
Gwen: Caroline Almy
Sally: Annie Frietas
Shirley: Karla Davenport
Weston: AJ Krane

This production ran at the Virginia Princehouse-Allen Theater at Pomona College in November 2007. This production earned three KCACTF Region VIII Awards, two for acting (Danny Zucker & Alex Glassmann) and one for ensemble acting.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE 

Today, myths of progress fly over the airwaves like dandruffy ashes on a black sedan.  In 1977, Americans were trying to move beyond a traumatic war, grappling with the lessons of the volatile and idealistic 60's, and attempting to envision a brighter future despite the oil crisis, the tense international landscape, and the tenuous and overburdened economy.  Despite a nascent gay rights movement, homophobia was prevalent from Anita Bryant's sunshine state to the heartland and beyond.  Wistful and disillusioned, activist slogans like “the personal is political” had morphed into the monosyllabic grunt “me” that perhaps characterized the era. 

 What I love most about this play is that it reveals human utility to be a group effort.  Perhaps this is what tickles us about good ensemble writing: it reminds us that we are dependent on each other for meaning, enrichment, and purpose.  Significantly, Lanford Wilson articulates this message through a pair of “burned out” musicians, a teenage artist, an alcoholic veteran, a saucy matriarch, a simple gardener, an overbearing mother, a not-so-sly capitalist, and an autistic child. 

 There were many inspiring moments during rehearsal that I felt strongly that this particular ensemble was fulfilling Johnny Young’s chilling yet rousing prophetic plea.  I hope that this production inspires questions about “progress” and “history” and “family”, sparks conversation about “equality”, and helps expand our collective ideas about what it means to be useful, if not heroic.  Like the Eskimo myth that fascinates Weston, I hope this production will remind us of what we need most to avoid freezing in the snow.

 Extra special thanks to Alvin and Rebecca for the many inspiring late night conversations that helped me to interpret this play, and to the cast for their boundless creativity and hard work.

  -- Darren Blaney