Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: "Dearly Departed" miscarriage question....

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avgsuperheroine
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Posted: 6/04/08 at 10:31pm

I think it just needs to be handled right. If done right, you don't really notice it as being an offensive joke, it's more just what happened to them. I think I've seen it painfully overacted, but even in our overly conservative area, it was well received.

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AngelSong76
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Posted: 6/10/08 at 10:26pm

We just closed Dearly Departed and it was an absolute hit in our Southern, conservative community. Actually, we're pushing a lot of boundries this year (our opening show was Misery) and our audience has been along for the ride the whole time without any real complaints.

I agree with the last post here. If played right, it just plays like something that happened to them rather than an offensive joke. Our Lucille played it so well that there was a gasp from the audience when she looked at the bucket. Even before her "Who brought this?" the audience felt sorry for her.

The show is wonderfully funny. Have fun doing it!

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sellwoodstreet
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Posted: 7/22/08 at 1:26am

I directed a production of this in my rural Southern Indiana high school some 15 years ago. The whole miscarriage gag was a bit frowned upon by the powers that be, but each night it got a laugh that caught us off guard. This show hit a little uncomfortably close to home for most in my hometown, and we all knew it.
This was the most fun I ever had with a show. We played up the mellerdramer, at times it felt like a well written episode of Mama's Family. That's the angle we went with it.
The audience sat on old couches and la-z-boy's, arranged with end-tables and lamps all culled from the basement rumpus rooms from all over town.
The KFC manager was reluctant to give us that unused bucket. We started out with a used one, thinking it was a great idea, we bought dinner for the whole cast and crew, and had a prop to boot, but by the second week of rehearsal the greasy bucket became fetid, so we had to acquire a clean one.
This show is so much fun! I strongly recommend it to anyone.

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jaytee060
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Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:06pm

I've directed this play twice and I can assure you that if you simply play it as written, you're audience will howl. Both times I did this show, members at those theatres asked the same question you are asking. It just comes across as funny.

My home theatre audience is about 60 percent older blue hairs and they laughed and cackled right along with the younger set. I think this play is such a wonderfully off beat show that the audience will accept just about anything. Jump right in and do it. Its pure entertainment. But remember...THIS AIN'T SHAKESPEARE. Tell your actors to have fun.

"REMEMBER ME IN LIGHT"

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jayzehr
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Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:09am

I directed the actors to play the scene straight, like something that happened to them rather than as a joke. Tonight I had three people talk to me afterward and say the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket joke was over the line. We are playing to large houses (for us) that are laughing quite a lot, so I guess I need to take it in context.

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teach
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Posted: 8/10/08 at 10:05am

I just did this show for a ct using all high school and college actors. The guys lobbied to keep the bit in, the girls were extremely uncomfortable. We used the bit with Ray-Bud to emphasize his insensitivity by focusing on chicken (rather than mock the miscarriage); when Lucille says her line later, we used it to change her character from super-sweet to angry. That actually worked quite well, and added some depth to Lucille's character. We got a lot of laughs, and no negative comments. I will say that this was the hardest issue to deal with for this play.

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jayzehr
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Posted: 8/10/08 at 5:57pm

Well, I'm getting mixed reviews on it. A friend of mine who is a minister was at today's matinee (our biggest audience yet) and didn't have any problem at all with it and we're obviously getting good word of mouth.. Leaving it out isn't an option unless the playwrights have some alternative version they let people use.

Actually, the way it's going in our production Ray-Bud isn't reading as insensitive but rather concerned about his wife and upset about the whole thing.

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Topic: "Dearly Departed" miscarriage question....( Topic Closed)
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Author	Message
avgsuperheroine Player Joined: 6/04/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Posted: 6/04/08 at 10:31pm
	I think it just needs to be handled right. If done right, you don't really notice it as being an offensive joke, it's more just what happened to them. I think I've seen it painfully overacted, but even in our overly conservative area, it was well received.
	Dramatically Correct Cast Gifts Costume Shop Organization Tips
	IP Logged

AngelSong76 Walk-On Joined: 5/08/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 6/10/08 at 10:26pm
	We just closed Dearly Departed and it was an absolute hit in our Southern, conservative community. Actually, we're pushing a lot of boundries this year (our opening show was Misery) and our audience has been along for the ride the whole time without any real complaints. I agree with the last post here. If played right, it just plays like something that happened to them rather than an offensive joke. Our Lucille played it so well that there was a gasp from the audience when she looked at the bucket. Even before her "Who brought this?" the audience felt sorry for her. The show is wonderfully funny. Have fun doing it!
	IP Logged

sellwoodstreet Walk-On Joined: 7/22/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 7/22/08 at 1:26am
	I directed a production of this in my rural Southern Indiana high school some 15 years ago. The whole miscarriage gag was a bit frowned upon by the powers that be, but each night it got a laugh that caught us off guard. This show hit a little uncomfortably close to home for most in my hometown, and we all knew it. This was the most fun I ever had with a show. We played up the mellerdramer, at times it felt like a well written episode of Mama's Family. That's the angle we went with it. The audience sat on old couches and la-z-boy's, arranged with end-tables and lamps all culled from the basement rumpus rooms from all over town. The KFC manager was reluctant to give us that unused bucket. We started out with a used one, thinking it was a great idea, we bought dinner for the whole cast and crew, and had a prop to boot, but by the second week of rehearsal the greasy bucket became fetid, so we had to acquire a clean one. This show is so much fun! I strongly recommend it to anyone.
	IP Logged

jaytee060 Star Joined: 1/18/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 63	Posted: 7/23/08 at 1:06pm
	I've directed this play twice and I can assure you that if you simply play it as written, you're audience will howl. Both times I did this show, members at those theatres asked the same question you are asking. It just comes across as funny. My home theatre audience is about 60 percent older blue hairs and they laughed and cackled right along with the younger set. I think this play is such a wonderfully off beat show that the audience will accept just about anything. Jump right in and do it. Its pure entertainment. But remember...THIS AIN'T SHAKESPEARE. Tell your actors to have fun.
	"REMEMBER ME IN LIGHT"
	IP Logged

jayzehr Celebrity Joined: 8/11/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 537	Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:09am
	I directed the actors to play the scene straight, like something that happened to them rather than as a joke. Tonight I had three people talk to me afterward and say the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket joke was over the line. We are playing to large houses (for us) that are laughing quite a lot, so I guess I need to take it in context.
	IP Logged

teach Walk-On Joined: 8/06/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 8/10/08 at 10:05am
	I just did this show for a ct using all high school and college actors. The guys lobbied to keep the bit in, the girls were extremely uncomfortable. We used the bit with Ray-Bud to emphasize his insensitivity by focusing on chicken (rather than mock the miscarriage); when Lucille says her line later, we used it to change her character from super-sweet to angry. That actually worked quite well, and added some depth to Lucille's character. We got a lot of laughs, and no negative comments. I will say that this was the hardest issue to deal with for this play.
	IP Logged

jayzehr Celebrity Joined: 8/11/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 537	Posted: 8/10/08 at 5:57pm
	Well, I'm getting mixed reviews on it. A friend of mine who is a minister was at today's matinee (our biggest audience yet) and didn't have any problem at all with it and we're obviously getting good word of mouth.. Leaving it out isn't an option unless the playwrights have some alternative version they let people use. Actually, the way it's going in our production Ray-Bud isn't reading as insensitive but rather concerned about his wife and upset about the whole thing.
	IP Logged