Title
Homebody
Document Type
Creative Work
Publication Date
2003
Abstract
Tony Kushner wrote 'Homebody' as a monologue by request and later turned it into the first act of the frighteningly prescient play Homebody/Kabul, in which the Homebody goes to Kabul, is reported dead, and her husband and daughter arrive to search for her in ruins left by the Taliban and the 1998 US missile attacks on the country. (Yes, Clinton fans, he pulled the trigger, too.)
This performance, directed by Richard O’Brien and executed by Jane Bergeron, is just the monologue section, nearly an hour of complex language and a sweeping history of Afghan history. Just the thing our president and Congress should have had before getting involved in entangling alliances with peacemakers and warlords alike.
In a simple but ornate set reflecting the nature of the play’s words and its ideas, Bergeron sits in a 19th-century armchair with a traveling overcoat slung over the side. She has all the actors’ decks stacked against her: A solo monologue, without any lighting or sound cues, delivered from a sitting position, in very complex language designed to lose both actor and audience in discomfort and confusion. And Bergeron pulls off a masterful performance
Accessed from: http://www.portlandphoenix.com/theater/top/documents/03333602.asp
This production was funded by the Hall Wallis Foundation, California.
Recommended Citation
Bergeron, J. M. (Actor). (2003). Homebody. [A Play]. Portland, ME: Human Theater Company, Portland Stage Studio Theater.