Getting Out
Encyclopedia
Getting Out is a play by Marsha Norman
.
, and Marc Howard at the Theatre de Lys in New York City
, on 15 May 1979. The cast was as follows:
The crew was as follows:
Other Productions
The world premiere was held at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky
. The West Coast
premiere was produced by the Center Theatre Group
of Los Angeles
at the Mark Taper Forum
. The original New York City
production was held at the Phoenix Theatre.
"A catwalk stretches above the apartment and a prison cell, Stage Right, connects it by the stairways. An apron Downstage and Stage Left completes the enclosure of the apartment in playing areas for the past. The apartment must seem imprisoned." (Dramatists Plays Service Inc.)
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother...
.
Production history
Getting Out was presented by Lester Osterman, Lucille LortelLucille Lortel
Lucille Lortel was an American actress and theater producer who is remembered as the namesake of an off-Broadway playhouse and theatrical award....
, and Marc Howard at the Theatre de Lys in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, on 15 May 1979. The cast was as follows:
- Arlene - Susan Kingsley
- Arlie - Pamela ReedPamela ReedPamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
- Guard Evans - John C. Capodice
- Bennie - Bob Burrus
- Guard Caldwell - Fritz Sperberg
- Doctor - William Jay
- Mother - Madeleine Thornton-Sherwood
- School Principal - Anna Minot
- Ronnie - Kevin BaconKevin BaconKevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
- Carl - Leo BurmesterLeo BurmesterLeo Burmester was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in Passion Fish and Lone Star , and also for directors such as John Schlesinger and Sidney Lumet, and as the Apostle Nathaniel in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ...
- Warden - Hansford RoweHansford RoweHansford Rowe is an American character actor who has starred in films and on television. He has been known to play ministers in some of his roles....
- Ruby - Joan Pape
The crew was as follows:
- Directed by: Jon JoryJon JoryJon Jory is a theatrical director instrumental in the development of the Actors Theatre of Louisville; he is also widely rumored to be the writer behind the pseudonym Jane Martin....
- Associated producers: Spencer H. Berlin and Marilyn R. Strauss
- Scenery/Lighting: James Tilton
- Costumes: Kurt Wilhelm
Other Productions
The world premiere was held at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. The West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
premiere was produced by the Center Theatre Group
Center Theatre Group
Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre...
of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the Mark Taper Forum
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...
. The original New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
production was held at the Phoenix Theatre.
Setting and Original Performance Conditions
"Both acts are set in a dingy one-room apartment in a rundown section of downtown Louisville, Kentucky. There is a sink, an apartment-size combination stove and refrigerator, and a counter with cabinets above. Dirty curtains conceal the bars on the outside of the single window. There is one closet and a door to the bathroom. The door to the apartment opens into a hall.""A catwalk stretches above the apartment and a prison cell, Stage Right, connects it by the stairways. An apron Downstage and Stage Left completes the enclosure of the apartment in playing areas for the past. The apartment must seem imprisoned." (Dramatists Plays Service Inc.)
Play Synopsis
"Released from prison Arlene returns to a run-down apartment in Louisville, intent on starting her life over. Rebellious and disruptive as a young girl, she has found strength in religion and wants to put her youth (as Arlie) behind her. But her struggles to find her way in the present (as Arlene) is counterpointed by flashbacks of her past (as Arlie), her two personalities being represented by two performers, who sometimes appear onstage simultaneously. We meet the guards and prison officials with whom Arlie waged a running battle; and the unfeeling, slatternly mother, the lecherous former prison guard, the pimp ex-boyfriend, and the touchingly friendly neighbor with whom Arlene is confronted in the present. Ultimately, the play, like life, offers no simple answers---but it conveys, with heart-rending honesty and compassion, the struggle of someone fighting for her life against incredible odds" (Dramatists Play Service Inc.)Character summaries
- Arlene: a thin, drawn women in her late twenties, who has just served an 8-year prison term for murder
- Arlie: Arlene at various times in her life
- Bennie: an Alabama prison guard in his 50's
- Evans: a prison guard
- Doctor: a psychiatrist in a juvenile institution
- Caldwell: another prison guard
- Mother: Arlene's mother
- School Principal
- Ronnie: a teenager in a juvenile institution
- Carl: Arlene's former pimp and partner in various crimes; in his late 20's
- Warden: Superintendent of Pine Ridge Correctional Institute for Women
- Ruby: Arlene's upstairs neighbor; a cook in a local diner; also an ex-con, in her late 30's
Awards and recognition
- 1979 Selection, The Burns Mantle Theater Yearbook, The Best Plays of 1978-1979