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 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.
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