Little Footsteps
by Ted Tally

May 3 - 18, 1991
Directed by Kenneth Benton

An hilarious and, at the same time, thoughtfully cautionary examination of the promises--and perils--of impending parenthood. Ben and Joanie, in their mid-thirties and married eight years, are an upwardly mobile "Yuppie" couple about to become parents for the first time. Ben (who is Jewish) works in television, Joanie (a quintessential WASP) is a would-be artist. As the play begins they are redecorating the dining room of their Manhattan apartment for use as a nursery, an activity which both underscores the impending changes in their lives and reinforces Ben's uneasiness about it. Ben's fears lead inevitably to dispute and, by the end of Act One, Ben has departed and Joanie suddenly finds herself a single parent-to-be. 

In Act Two, which takes place several months later, a christening party is in progress attended by Joanie's parents, Charlotte and Gil, an affluent older couple who are not hesitant to point out that they never much cared for Ben in the first place. As for Ben, having avoided the formal christening, he now sneaks in through the nursery window determined (in a gesture towards his own religious background) to intone a few Jewish prayers over his newborn son--which, when the others suddenly return, leads both to a series of wildly funny misunderstandings, and also, in the end, a tenuous reconciliation and a commitment, by both Ben and Joanie, to try to grow up before their offspring does.

- Dramatists Play Service

Playwright Ted Tally was born in North Carolina in 1952, and educated at Yale College and the Yale School of Drama. His plays, which include TERRA NOVA, HOOTERS, COMING ATTRACTIONS, and SILVER LININGS, have premiered Off-Broadway and also been produced at regional theatres throughout the U.S. In addition, he has written for television and film, including the Oscar-winning screenplay for THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.