Statement: Producing the play

Production Problems Posed By the Text:

The first issues posed by the script are the time and place to set it in. Once you have set the date, you need to research all the issues surrounding that date, such as current events. Any issues of that time could affect the plays content and how the audience responds. Also when you have set the place you have to research events in that place on that day, involving Stonewater Rapture , you would need to research churches in that area, any events that involve the content at all. The setting is the living room and porch of a small house, one problem in having an audience on all three sides is visibility by the audience, the set has to be in such a way that the audience can see every aspect of it. Other problems the text presents are the sexual encounters, in scene one the boob scene as I like to call it can be played many ways but if made too sexual could ruin the intent of the author but if played too innocent it could muddy the affects of later events. And also the final part in scene two, the image at the end has to be a tableau, to the affect that audience will understand the meaning behind it.

Production Problems Posed By Our Context:

If Sam were to produce “The Stonewater Rapture”, some major issues would be the churches reaction to how the religious content was displayed and how we are presenting religion to the audience. Also this is for a more mature audience, high schools could come to see it but you would be hard pressed to have it accepted by the school board or even to have the parents to allow their children to see it. This play deals with homosexuality though it may be small in the context, it’s still there as a bright red flag to those people who are against it. You might have to deal with protesters or at least have churches and parents sending emails to the head of the department about how this show is wrong to do for the community. Most students at the college would not have a problem coming to see the show, because studies show that college students are more apt to deal with the controversies and see the actual meaning of the issues and how they actually affect them every day.

Other Production’s Solutions:

Other Productions have solved these problems by one easing their community into the play. Some productions have started off by doing plays with similar content and seeing the reactions of the community. Other Productions have sent out emails to the local churches explaining the plays content and seeing the reactions of the leaders. Also they have sent flyers out gauging the reaction of the community. Fact: you will never have a show that makes everyone happy there will always be one person or one group that finds something offensive about your production, you can’t please everyone.

Critical Response:

I had a hard time finding any reviews at all on this play, it seems to not be done that often, on the reviews I did find, they seem to have been moved by the words and the pictures created by the performances they have seen. The productions that I could find were all college level, and were reviewed by the school paper or the local paper, just little short excerpts, about the play and their reactions which were to say the play was worth seeing and it had been incredible moving.

Dramaturg's Statement

The Stonewater Rapture was published in 1998, it was written by Doug Wright. We set it in 1988 in a small town somewhere in west Texas. The time period was chosen for the political issues going on at the time such as, abortion, and homosexuality. These issues still exist today but in 1988 they were on the forefront of everyone’s mind. This play involves abortion, rape, teen lust, and religion . Here at Sam Houston we strive to show audiences the plays that involve raw emotion and the controversy , instead of the happy-endings because in life there are not always happy endings, though we do show a whole range of plays. Stonewater rapture is just a taste of what life can be for teenagers in a small religious town, in 1988 the presidential election affected religion everywhere. George Bush and Michael Dukakis were running in the presidential election, the main issues that the church was concerned with was abortion and the death penalty, Bush was against abortion but for the death penalty and Dukakis was for abortion but against the death penalty, so the church was at a crossroads, so abortion was a major issue at this stage in the U.S. Also in 1988 we have the issue of abortion which is still a raging issue even today, but in 1988 people were far less accepting of ones preference to sexual orentation, if thought to be a homosexual in the year 1988, you were considered an outcast and treated as such. Homosexuality was sometimes approach with violence, also families were known to send their children to degayification instutes to cure their so called disease. This show is very biblical, every few lines there is some quote from the bible, and we research everyone, seeing its specific significance, to the surrounding dialogue and to the scenes outcomes. Each phrase is followed by an action directly connected with the meaning, so the biblical research was extensive. We also didn’t want to weigh to heavily on the religious aspects of the play but also delve into the emotional degrees of the play such as: Teen lust, and rape. In the first scene we start with innocence then get thrown into lust and then to guilt, but in scene two we start with guilt then go to the story of rape and then back to guilt then we end with disappointment. We end with nothing resolved because our issues are never ending, thus nothing gets resovled but we see we can always end with something. We want you the audience to be transported back to your highschool days and remember the issues around your experience, the issues in the play have happened to many people maybe not to this degree but everyone can level with the emotions of the characters on the stage.

Educator's Packet

Basic Facts of the Script:
-The play is set in West Texas, in the early Fall. The setting is the living room and front porch of a small, white frame house.
Plot:
-Set on the front porch and in the living room of a conservative Texas home, the play tells the story of two teenagers whose sexual awakening has been severely hampered by the fundamentalist fervor that runs like power lines through the Bible Belt. A comic first scene, set on the porch of Whitney’s home, details his attempts to seduce the puritanical Carlyle after he’s just been elected president of the Youth Ministry at the Church picnic. Carlyle coyly refuses his advances, citing everything from teen pregnancy to hellfire and damnation as reasons to abstain. In a dramatic second scene, Carlyle seeks Whitney’s help after she has been the victim of a sexual assault. Rather than face the grim reality of her experience, Carlyle transforms the attack from an act of violence to a vision of glory, in which the bodies of her assailants become the angels torn from the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the alcohol they forced upon her becomes the blood of Christ. As Carlyle’s delusions grow, Whitney must convince her of the unfortunate truth. Together they struggle to wed their simplistic religious doctrine with the often painful complexity of the real world.

Author:
-The author Doug Wright was born in 1962 in Dallas, Texas. He is a playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1985 and he earned his M.F.A. from New York University. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and serves on the board of New York Theatre Workshop. He has written several plays including: I am my own wife, Quills, Dinosaurs, The Stonewater Rapture, Watbanaland, and Interrogating the Nude. He also wrote the Musicals: The Little Mermaid, Grey Gardens, and Buzzsaw Berkeley.
He received several awards such as the 2004 Tony Award for Best Play- I am my own wife, the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama- I am my own wife, the 2005 Lambda Literary Award- I am my own wife and the 2006 Toleranzpreis Europa- I am my own wife.

Questions:
1. How did you want to affect the community with this production?
2. What problems arose during the production process?
3. How did the actors prepare emotionally for their roles?
4. What time period did you set the play in? And why?
5. With the issues surrounding the play was the time period selected to emphasize the issues?

Statement

In 1988 Ronald W. Reagan was President and George Bush was the V.P. The population of the United States was right around 244,498,982 and our life expectancy was the age 74. Also 98% of the United States households have a Television. On January 13 the Supreme Court ruled that public school officials had broad powers to censor school newspapers, school plays and other school sponsored expressive activities. A U.S. Civil Liberties Act was passed. Feb 10, A 3-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down the Army's ban on homosexuals, saying gays were entitled to the same protection against discrimination as racial minorities. The ruling was later set aside by the full appeals court. President Reagan vetoes a Civil Rights Restoration Act March 16 but Congress overrides his veto March 22, expanding the reach of non-discrimination laws within private institutions receiving federal funds. The U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously June 20 in New York State Club Association, Inc., v. The City of New York that the city's 1984 law banning discrimination against women and minorities in private clubs with more than 400 members does not violate First Amendment rights. The ruling supports the city's human rights law and will affect clubs in every other U.S. city. After 8 years and 1.5 million dead the Iran -- Iraq war ends in August. US Navy ship shoots down Iranian airliner in Persian Gulf, mistaking it for jet fighter; 290 killed (July 3). Suspected Libyan terrorist bomb explodes on Pan Am jet over Lockerbie in Scotland on December 21st killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground. Also France and China permit use of "morning-after" birth-control drug RU486. This was a very large issue in 1988. In 1988 Prozac is introduced as an anti-depresent. The first plutonium pacemaker is made. A new drug Crack appears ( A derivative of Cocaine ) and is increasingly found in US Cities. World's longest undersea tunnel is completed. Work begins on the Chunnel which will then become the world's longest undersea tunnel. Also the Hubble Space Telescope is put into operation. The US Stealth Bomber is unveiled. Using Carbon Dating it is established that the Turin Shroud Can Not Be the Burial Cloth of Christ. Archaeologists uncover the original Globe Theatre in London. Some Popular films of this time were: Rain Man, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Big, Twins, Crocodile Dundee II, Die Hard, Beetlejuice and Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. There were a lot of great musical artists of this time but here are few of the chart toppers: Enya, Robert Palmer, Erasure, Kylie Minogue, U2, The Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Chicago with " Look Away " , George Michael with " father Figure ", and Guns N' Roses. Also in 1988 it was the first year that CD’s outsold vinyl records. Some deaths of this time: Roy Orbison, Chet Baker, Luis Alvarez, Edgar Jean Faure, and Nora Astorga. Interesting Fact 1988 was the year of the dragon People born in the Year of the Dragon are healthy, energetic, excitable, short-tempered, and stubborn. They are also honest, sensitive, brave, and they inspire confidence and trust. Dragon people are the most eccentric of any in the eastern zodiac. They neither borrow money nor make flowery speeches, but they tend to be soft-hearted which sometimes gives others an advantage over them. In 1988 most people with religious backgrounds were concerned with the fact that the presidents running for office such as George Bush were for the death penalty but against abortion and Dukakis was for abortion but against the death penalty they were confused on who would be the better candidate.