Monday, September 14, 2009

McCarter's Audience Guide

This is the "Audience Guide" prepared by the McCarter Theatre for its 2007 production:

http://www.mccarter.org/Education/stick-fly/html/index.html
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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Oak Bluffs: History

Oak Bluffs was first settled in 1642 and was officially incorporated in 1880 as Cottage City, Massachusetts. Before its incorporation, it was part of Edgartown. The town re-incorporated in 1907 as Oak Bluffs. Oak Bluffs originally began as the center for tourism on the Vineyard. While the other towns were more focused on industry, Oak Bluffs became a Mecca for travelers from around the world as early as the beginning of the 1800s. It also became a center of the thriving 19th Century Methodist movement.

In 1835 this community served as the site for annual summer camp meetings, when Methodist church groups found the groves and pastures of Martha's Vineyard particularly well suited to all-day gospel sessions.

Wesleyan Grove, as the Oak Bluffs Camp Ground was called, rode the crest of the religious revival movement. By the mid-1850s, the Sabbath meetings here were drawing congregations of 12,000 people. They came for the sunshine and sermonizing in hundreds of individual church groups.

Each group had its own communal tent where the contingent bedded down in straw purchased from local farmers. Services were held in a large central tent. The communal tents gave way to "family tents," which reluctant church authorities granted only to "suitable" families. But the vacation urge could not be checked. Family tents turned into wooden cottages designed to look like tents. And the cottages multiplied, trying to out-do each other in brightly painted fantasies of gingerbread. A new, all-steel Tabernacle structure replaced the big central tent in 1879. It stands today as a fine memento of the age of ironwork architecture.

Within 40 years of the first camp meeting here, there were crowds of 30,000 attending Illumination Night, which marked the end of the summer season with stunning displays of Japanese lanterns and fireworks.

Wesleyan Grove struggled to hold its own against such secular attractions as ocean bathing, berry picking, walking in the woods, fishing, and croquet playing. There were efforts to ban peddlers, especially book peddlers. A high picket fence was built around the Camp Ground proper. By the 1870s, Wesleyan Grove had expanded into "Cottage City" and Cottage City had become the town of Oak Bluffs, with over 1,000 cottages.

Steam vessels from New York, Providence, Boston, and Portland continued to bring more enthusiastic devotees of the Oak Bluffs way of life. Horse cars were used to bring vacationers from the dock to the Tabernacle. The horse cars were later replaced by a steam railroad that ran all the way to Katama. One of the first passengers on the railroad was President Grant. The railroad gave way to an electric trolley from Vineyard Haven to the Oak Bluffs wharves, and the trolley eventually gave way to the automobile.
http://www.ci.oak-bluffs.ma.us/about-oakbluffs.shtml
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Oak Bluffs: Facts

Note: The fictional LeVays do not live in Oak Bluffs (a real town on Martha's Vineyard), which is home to Taylor's father (also fictional).

Oak Bluffs
settled in 1642 (originally part of Edgartown)
incorporated in 1880 as Cottage City
renamed Oak Bluffs in 1907

According to the 2000 U.S. Census:
3,713 total people
504 people/sq mile
4.3% African-American (160 total)
median age: 39
median household income: $42,044
per captia income: $23,829
8.4% of population living below poverty line
http://www.ci.oak-bluffs.ma.us/about-oakbluffs.shtml
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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Publications

Stick Fly: A Play (Paperback)
$15.00 Retail
Northwestern University Press, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8101-2535-3

$13.50 at barnesandnoble.com

Stick Fly: Audiobook MP3
L.A. Theatre Works
Pub. Date: April 2008
ISBN-13: 9781580815499
File Size: 51 MB
Duration: 1 hour, 50 minutes

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Production Photos

Matrix Theatre (2009)



Contemporary American Theatre Festival (2008)



McCarter Theatre (2007)



Promotional Trailer available at:
http://www.mccarter.org/Trailers/viewtrailer.aspx?page_id=113
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Lydia's Bios

from MPAACT (2008)

Lydia Diamond’s plays include: The Gift Horse, The Goodman (Theodore Ward 1st Place, Kesselring Prize 2nd Place); The Bluest Eye, Steppenwolf (World Premiere, Black Arts Alliance Image Award – Best New Play), New Vic, Theatre Alliance, Plowshares, Playmakers Rep, Horizon Theatre Co., Freedom Theatre, Providence Black Rep, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Long Wharf/Hartford Stage, Company One (Elliot Norton – Best Fringe Production ’08 Nomination), and Jubilee Theatre; Voyeurs de Venus, Chicago Dramatists (’06 Joseph Jefferson Award – Best New Work, ‘06 Black Theatre Alliance Award – Best Writing), Company One (Fall, ’08); Stick Fly (’08 Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist), Congo Square (World Premiere, ’06 BTAA – Best Play, ’06 Joseph Jeff Nomination – Best New Work), True Colors, The McCarter, L.A. Theatre Works, and Contemporary American Theatre Festival; Harriet Jacobs, Steppenwolf (World Premiere), Staged Readings at Old Vic, U.K., and The Kennedy Center; Stage Black, Cincinnati Arts Consortium, MPAACT (‘09); and The Inside, MPAACT Theatre Co. and Nat’l Tour. Lydia is currently working on commissions for The McCarter, Victory Gardens/Humana, and Huntington Theatre Companies. The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse, and Stage Black are published by Dramatic Publishing. The Gift Horse is anthologized in Northwestern University Press’ 7 Black Plays, ed. Chuck Smith. Stick Fly, published 2009, Northwestern University Press. Lydia holds a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a 2006-2007 Huntington Playwright Fellow, and an ’07/’08 TCG/NEA playwright in residence at The Steppenwolf, and is a TCG Board Member. Lydia Diamond has taught at Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University, Loyola, and is currently on faculty at Boston University.
http://www.mpaact.org/blog/2008/12/lydia-diamond-biography.php

from McCarter Theatre (2007)

Lydia R. Diamond is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow and a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. Her plays include: The Gift Horse (Goodman Theatre, Kesselring Prize-2nd Place), Stick Fly (Black Theatre Alliance Award - Best Play, Congo Square, True Colors Theatre Co.), Voyeurs de Venus (Joseph Jefferson Award - Best New Play, BTAA - Best Writing, World Premiere Chicago Dramatists), and an adaptation of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (Black Arts Alliance Image Award – Best New Play; Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Vic, NY, Playmakers Rep, Theatre Alliance, D.C., New Freedom Theatre, Plowshares, and upcoming at Long Wharf Theatre Co., Hartford Stage, Providence Black Rep, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, and Company One, Boston.). Ms. Diamond’s newest play, Harriet Jacobs, received public readings at The Kennedy Center and London’s Old Vic, and will premiere at Steppenwolf in February, where Ms. Diamond is a TCG/NEA Playwright in Residence. The Gift Horse is published in 7 Black Plays, and The Bluest Eye, The Gift Horse, and Stage Black will all be available through Dramatic Publishing. Ms. Diamond is a graduate of Northwestern University and currently teaches at Boston University.
http://www.mccarter.org/ticketoffice/artistdetail.aspx?artist_id=99975509&event_id=3189
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Production History

Congo Square Theatre Company
Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts
Chicago, Illinois
March 23-April 15, 2006

Director: Chuck Smith
Scenery: Dustin Efird
Costumes: Christine Pascual
Lights: Alex Seiler
Sound: Joe Plummer
Props: Joanna Iwanicka

Taylor: Ann Joseph
Kent: Daniel J. Bryant
Cheryl: Ericka Ratcliff
Flip: Aaron Todd Douglas
Dad: Phillip Edward Van Lear
Kimber: Anne Roche


True Colors Theatre Company
Balzer Theater
Atlanta, Georgia
May 19-June 3, 2007

Director: Derrick Sanders
Scenery: Rochelle Barker
Costumes: Shilla Benning
Lights: Jessica Coale
Sound: Chris Bartelski

Taylor: JeNie Fleming
Kent: Jahi Kearse
Cheryl: Ayesha Ngaujah
Flip: Javon Johnson
Dad: Greg Alan Williams
Kimber: Elizabeth Wells Berkes

McCarter Theatre Company
Berlind Theatre
Princeton, New Jersey
September 7-October 14, 2007

Director: Shirley Jo Finney
Scenery: Felix E. Chochren
Costumes: Karen Perry
Lights: Victor Tan
Sound: Darron L. West

Taylor: Michole Briana White
Kent: Kevin Carroll
Cheryl: Julie Pace Mitchell
Flip: Javon Johnson
Dad: John Wesley
Kimber: Monette Magrath

LA Theatre Works
Skirball Cultural Center
Los Angeles, California
November 14-18, 2007
Director: Shirley Jo Finney
This is the production with Justine Bateman as KIMBER that was audiorecorded and is available on a 2-CD set or by digital download as an Audiobook MP3.

Contemporary American Theatre Festival
Studio Theater at Sara Cree Hall
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
July 9-August 3, 2008

Director: Liesl Tommy
Scenery: Robert Klingelhoefer
Costumes: Reggie Ray

Taylor: Tijuana T. Ricks
Kent: Maduka Steady
Cheryl: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Flip: Avery Glymph
Dad: David Emerson Toney
Kimber: Anne Marie Nest

Matrix Theatre
Los Angeles, California
April 10-May 31, 2009
Director: Shirley Jo Finney
Scenery: John Iacovelli
Costumes: Dana Woods
Lights: Christian Epps
Sound: Mitch Greenhill

Taylor: Michole Briana White
Kent: Chris Butler
Cheryl: Tinashe Kajese
Flip: Terrell Tilford
Dad: John Wesley
Kimber: Avery Clyde

Arena Stage
Washington, DC
January 1 – February 7, 2010
Director: Kenny Leon

Huntington Theatre Company
Boston, Massachusetts
February 19 – March 21, 2010
Director: Kenny Leon

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Questions for Lydia

Ages of Characters
David: In your "Characters" list, you note that DAD is 58-62 and CHERYL is 18-22. While I understand the symbolic significance of the four years regarding Dr. LeVay's awareness of his paternity (of CHERYL), I'm missing the practical meaning of this four-year age range for the two, particularly since CHERYL just graduated from high school. Have I overlooked something in my initial reading?

Lydia: The ages in the character descriptions are simply the range in which the actors could be cast. Not set in stone, not significant, and not a span of age through the show. Just an actor between 58-62 could play the role... which as you know, could mean anything.

Year of the Play
David: Is there a specific year setting for the play? Given that Blackberry was available (as DAD uses it) beginning in 2002, and given that Congo Square produced your play in 2006, may I conclude 2002 or perhaps 2003?

Lydia: I think you're about right, It's probably 2003 or so. Before the possibility of the Obama administration or it would certainly have figured heavily into their conversations.
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Cottages on Martha's Vineyard

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Sunday, August 9, 2009

Reviews

Congo Square Theatre Company
Chicago, March-April 2007

"Stick Fly" doesn’t let us forget that even in the most idyllic settings, and among the most gentle of people, conflict and strife still buzz around us like bees near honey.
Dennis Mahoney, Centerstage
http://www.centerstagechicago.com/theatre/shows/2611.html

Diamond's Martha's Vineyard vacationers serve more as functional mouthpieces to the issues instead of becoming living and breathing people caught up in Stick Fly's drama.
Scott C. Morgan, Windy City Times
http://www.windycitytimes.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=11194

"Stick Fly" not only is an impressively ambitious play, it's also a piece with heart that, with work, would make one heck of a screenplay. Right now, it's at least 15 minutes too long. The piece bogs down in the second act. Its themes need more focus and less verbosity.
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_TJegLiAIxpODg2YTU2YTEtMTVkOS00YjNmLWIwNWQtMTRmYWFhMjYxNjZh&hl=en

Intriguing, but at times you just want to shout: Stop the whining.
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun Times
http://www.alwoda.com/files/20060329_Diamondstudded_dialogue_of_Stick_Fly_grows_tiresome.html

True Colors Theatre Company
Atlanta, May-June 2007

Despite Diamond's command of the race and class tensions among wealthy black intellectuals, the playwright proves less confident with dramatic structure. At times director Derrick Sanders [...] has trouble setting a strong sense of momentum and pace given the play's short and sometimes repetitive scenes.
Curt Holman, Creative Loafing
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/stick_fly_secrets_and_flies/Content?oid=249884

McCarter Theatre
Princeton, September-October 2007

Her characters, given nuanced, edgy performances by the excellent cast [...] are generally well drawn and occasionally truly compelling. Yet too often an excess of melodrama and a transparent plot undermine the play's credibility.
Naomi Siegel, New York Times
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_TJegLiAIxpMWRhNTlmYTgtMDliYS00M2U2LTliMDctZTgzMWY4NGRjYzdi&hl=en

Stick Fly is a fascinating and perceptive play which deals with aspects of African-American life which have been underrepresented in the American theatre.
Bob Rendell, TalkinBroadway.com
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/nj/nj242.html

"Stick Fly" leaps with flinty dialogue, crisply tailored performances and a plot laced with hidden secrets and shocking revelations.
Robert L. Daniels, Variety
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934767.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

Despite being overlong, overwrought and overly contentious, Stick Fly is almost giddily entertaining.
Simon Saltzman, CurtainUp
http://www.curtainup.com/stickflynj.html

Diamond’s overly discursive family drama takes some gratuitous segues into coincidence but ultimately takes on the leisureliness and heft of an August Wilson work...
Peter Filichia, Star Ledger
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2007/09/stick_around_for_wit_not_plot.html

But Stick Fly [...] is ultimately a winner. It deals with real-life problems and contains revelations, and never pummels with a message or lectures like a tract. Diamond forces you, instead, to both gasp and laugh at the surprises you face, like a wave that spills over you when you haven't been looking.
Howard Shapiro, Philadelphia Inquirer
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_TJegLiAIxpNmM3ZTJiMWYtMTVlZS00NjgyLTkzN2EtOTQwMjIwMjJkOWQ3&hl=en

Contemporary American Theatre Festival
Shepherdstown, West Virginia, July-August 2008

An absorbing, funny potboiler with a few intellectual points to make [....] But it is the soap opera quotient -- delectably accentuated by the cast and director Liesl Tommy -- that makes the production so diverting.
Celia Wren, Washington Post
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_TJegLiAIxpMzM3Yjc4M2MtZGQzYy00NjBkLThlMWItODIxODk5Y2JkZjJm&hl=en

Playwright Diamond is extraordinarily successful, daring to examine the possibility that perhaps it's not race, but social class and pressures that more strongly influence our personal outcomes. Her characters are interesting, articulate and frustrating, and her comic touches exhibit great wit and perceptiveness.
T.L. Ponick, Washington Times
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_TJegLiAIxpYjM5ZDhjZmUtN2ExYS00NTI1LTk1OTUtNmRmZTg3Mjg3OGJl&hl=en

Matrix Theatre
Los Angeles, April-May 2009

Diamond's play combines complex characters, provocative situations, and literate, funny dialog in this delicious comedy of contemporary manners.
Steven Leigh Morris, LA Weekly Blogs
http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/stage-news/stage-raw-stick-fly/

Stick Fly runs over two and a half hours, but it’s so good, so compelling, so involving that time passes by lickety-split. This is not only a play I didn’t want to see end, it’s one I’m hoping to see again. It’s a winner all around.
Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA
http://stagescenela.com/html/stick_fly.html

And, while some moments are clearly uneasy to watch and hear – the audience can’t help but be drawn in. What makes this play work is that you care about each character, even the two who never make it on stage.
Darlene Dunlowe, L.A. Watts Times
http://www.lawattstimes.com/component/content/article/650-family-drama-rules-in-stick-fly.html

Diamond’s overly discursive family drama takes some gratuitous segues into coincidence but ultimately takes on the leisureliness and heft of an August Wilson work...
Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/04/review-stick-fly-at-matrix-theatre.html

The play's pacing does not leave much time for rest on the characters' part or reflection on ours. Nonetheless, the talented Diamond has given us much to chew on and a hugely entertaining evening to boot.
Evan Henerson, CurtainUp
http://www.curtainup.com/stickflyla.html

With so many character issues, so many revelations and so many connections to be made, “Stick Fly” can sometimes feel daunting to the audience keeping up with this, to say the least, dysfunctional family.
Courtney Powell, Daily Bruin
http://dailybruin.ucla.edu/stories/2009/may/21/theater-review-emstick-flyem/

Diamond's strengths here are well-rounded characters, an involving story, and integrity in incisively tackling important topics. The downside comes in patches of dialogue that defy credibility, as some family discussions sound like stilted textbook discourses. This adds to the verbosity of the overplotted, nearly three-hour script.
Les Spindle, Backstage
http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/reviews/la-theatre-reviews/e3id3ffb6d5b9e0b911561c3e2ef165bde7
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