eNotes.com New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall [7], Curse of the Starving Class won the 197677 Obie Award for Best New American Play.[8]. WESLEY keeps cleaning up the debris, ignoring her. Jump-start your essay with our outlining tool to make sure you have all the main points of your essay covered. With James Woods, Kathy Bates, Randy Quaid, Henry Thomas. We don't currently have any monologues from Curse of the Starving Class . Ella, his mother, enters and they begin to discuss the events of the night before that lead to Wesley's father, Weston, breaking down the door. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Perhaps that's the reason they're stuck where they are: broke, hungry, and fighting. Hes slept there before. California suffers from rolling blackouts, and the major population centers of the East Coast are warned about similar blackouts or brownouts. Wesley protests feebly. Door slams. SymbolismCurse of the Starving Class uses symbolism a great deal, but Shepard uses it in a jarring way. Curse of the Starving Class is a 1994 American drama film directed by J. Michael McClary and starring James Woods, Kathy Bates, Randy Quaid, Henry Thomas and Louis Gossett Jr. [1] It is based on Sam Shepard 's 1977 play of the same name. Ella pushes all the laundry to the floor and lies on the table. 14. She appears to be the most bizarre character in the play, yet is also the most normal member of the family. The "curse," as Ella puts it, of the Tate family is that they have nitroglycerine liquid dynamite running in their blood. [5] No sound. Then WESLEY'S mother, ELLA, enters slowly from down left. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Just from my dad coming back. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. At times, Wesley loses patience with his family members, as evidenced by his lack of sympathy for his sister's ruined 4-H project, to which he responds by urinating on her charts and suggesting that his sister do something truly useful with her time. Hes going to sleep there all night. Whenand where doesTheCurse of the Starving Class take place? Ella finally enters and says that she is going on a business luncheon with Taylor. Christian H. Moe. Wesley is cleaning up shards of wood from the door his father broke down the night before during a drunken outburst. . It is the next day. DeRose, David J., Sam Shepard, Twayne, 1992. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. These objects are indeed symbolic, but they are meant to hit the audience with their power. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. He pulls out the. Barnes, Clive, Shepards Starving Class Offers Much Food for Thought, in New York Post, March 3, 1978. Ella. Researchers have studied how much of our personality is set from childhood, but what youre like isnt who you are. Cobwebs moving with them. However, many of the same issues (such as access to abortions and birth control, equal pay for equal work, and affirmative action) still remain to be resolved. We are all a version of someone elses story. Sam Shepard's coming of age drama about a dirt-poor 1950's-era farm family. Wesley and Ella talk about Westons eagle story as the play ends. Its themes include the struggle for dignity, moral obligations to family members, and the effect of money in America. In the night. Wesley then tells Weston that Ella has also found a buyer for the house and Weston goes into a rage, and then collapses on a table and falls asleep. In act 1, while Ella prepares her breakfast, Wesley has a long speech in which he recounts his sense of life while lying in bed, not simply on this night but also on many other nights. Shepard makes similar realistic and mythic use of costumes; the clothes in which Weston is first seen also fit Wesley. "Curse of the Starving Class - The Play" Survey of Dramatic Literature Weston is a destructive and angry man . "A Little Princess" "I love this monologue because of its sincerity. Emma tells Taylor that her family has violent tendencies caused by some family members having nitroglycerin, which is a very explosive element, in their blood. Center stage is a table, downstage a . Wesley leaves and Emma returns, covered in mud from being dragged by the horse. Emma yells at Ella and exits. Its humiliating to have the cops come, he says, whining a little. Feet walking toward the door. Word Count: 1160. Swaying very quietly like they were being blown by someones breath. Like any second something could invade me. His symbolsthe lamb, the broken door, the refrigerator, the old carjump out at the viewer and almost announce I am a symbol! But Shepard uses them less as true symbols than as evocative images. While Ella takes steps to get away by trying to sell the old homestead, through a lawyer named Taylor (Andrew Rothenberg), Wesley cant imagine his life as anything other than what it is: he moves and speaks as if bewitched by the awfulness; his existence is a Daddy-dominated dream. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Then I could picture my dad driving it. The second is the date of [10], Simard, Rodney. Weston tells Wesley that he has decided to stay and fix up the house instead of leaving, no matter who holds the deed. Perhaps thats the reason theyre stuck where they are: broke, hungry, and fighting. Taylor is a lawyer who is involved in real estate and is looking to buy the property from Ella. When Wesley tells him that Ella is thinking of selling the house, Weston explodes and threatens to kill her and Taylor. eNotes.com All rights reserved. 28 Feb. 2023 , Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Copyright [2023] Mighty Actor, The Curse Of The Starving Class Monologue (Wesley), DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES FOR TEENS/KIDS (BOYS), DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES FOR TEENS/KIDS (GIRLS). Cutting through the orchard. Ella returns with groceries and says she knows there is a curse working against family. The play opens on an image of the breakdown of the barrier between outside and inside, the shattered front door that allows all sorts of undesirable elements to enter the house. Afraid of sound. Monologues. Randall, Phyllis R., Adapting to Reality: Language in Shepards Curse of the Starving Class, in Sam Shepard: A Casebook, edited by Kimball King, Garland, 1988. Waiting to get out. I could smell the avocado blossoms. nada! His mother, Ella enters, and Wesley and she talk about the events of the night before. When: what time period Where: city and state. Michael and me -- well, we're closer than most brothers and sisters. Emma and Wesley keep opening the fridge and looking for something thats not therea crystal ball filled with absence. The entire upkeep of the farm falls on the shoulders of their idealistic son, Wesley, the only one who seems to have some hope for the family left. With Curse of the Starving Class, Shepard moved more toward realism, to the social dramas of such classic realists as Ibsen. Head smashing. . Looking at the lamb carcass, she asks Wesley to help her remember the story Weston always told about the eagle. Me, the enemy. Wilmeth, Don B. and Miller, Tice L. "The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre", Cambridge University Press, 1996, Yale Rep Starts Shepard's 'Curse Of The Starving Class' Feb. 3 in New Haven", "Long Wharf Theatre stages 'Curse of the Starving Class' February 13 through March 10", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Curse_of_the_Starving_Class&oldid=1020900821, This page was last edited on 1 May 2021, at 18:23. [2] The play was commissioned by Joseph Papp and premiered in London in 1977 before playing at Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival in 1978. No sight. When Weston comes to, he starts up again where he left off, rejecting Wesleys suggestions that they plant avocados on their land. Since Ella is still under the impression that Wesley is Weston, Emerson and Slater also mistake Wesley for Weston. Wesley appears, bloodied, and tells Weston that he has tried to get the money back. [6], The play was produced at Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, in February 2000, directed by Jim Simpson and featuring Kristine Nielsen, Guy Boyd, Mandy Siegfried, Danny Seckel, Paul Boocock, Ron Faber, Steve Mellor, Dan Moran and Chime Serra. Emerson is a minor character who represents the men that Weston is in debt to. They menace the family a little and leave. 28 Feb. 2023 , Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Heart still pounding. Westons only way of being a father is to exercise his paternal privileges, which, in Shepard-land, include wreaking havoc, fucking up your kids and your wife, and squandering the future; we learn by the second act that, in order to pay off loan sharks, Weston has already sold the property, to a bar owner named Ellis (Esau Pritchett, who has a lot of strength and appeal, though Kinney doesnt temper his performance, either). Word Count: 509. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. This act opens with Weston, who is now clean, and sober. I could feel the space around me like a big, black world. eNotes.com, Inc. Ella talks about the curse that is plaguing their family. 1 Mar. Ella and Wesley react differently to Westons abuse. A pop of metal. Ella goes to the back part of the house and Emma goes to the refrigerator. The eagle carried the cat away, and they fought until both came crashing down. Keys turned off. Whenand where doesTheCurse of the Starving Class take place? Wesley enters and they discuss Weston's laundry and the best way to help the lamb with the maggots. Emma leaves; then Taylor and Ella leave for a business meeting. Wesley is left on stage, talking to the lamb, when Westons voice is heard outside. He and Emerson represent the men that Weston owes money to, and have come to serve as a warning. . Ella tries to take the money from Wesley, but he tells her there is not enough to go to Europe on. Still, Ella and Wesley both convey their hurt and their ambivalence toward Westons power over them. I was looking straight up at the ceiling at all my model airplanes hanging by all their thin metal wires. all the upkeep! The first motif almost overwhelms the play with its omnipresence. The play alludes to the golden age of motoring when Ella's prized Packard is mentioned, and also blown up, which signifies the . Vol. What he didnt know then, but worked out in glorious play after play, once hed found his vocation, was why, amid all the waste and destruction, a boys heart would still beat faster whenever his father drove up the road, a father confused about his family and his effect on them, lost to any idea of love, trying to catch dreams at the bottom of a bottle. *Our system only provides suggested monologues or songs for select characters if we have matching monologues and song information in our database. The laundry is still on the table; a pot of artichokes boils on the stove. The speculators and developers then began building subdivisions in the areas immediately surrounding the city. Inviting Wesley to have some breakfast, he tells him (as Wesley walks off) that he is reconsidering the idea of planting avocados. It is shocking to see a live lamb on stage and even more shocking to see it bloody and dead; similarly, the centrality of the refrigerator to every scene and the constant opening and closing of its door reminds us of the theme of hunger and starving, but Shepard refuses to nail down its meaning for us. Ella returns with groceries that Taylor has bought for the family and throws out the artichokes. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Wesley exits at the sounds of his fathers approach. Gale Cengage Wesley asks her how she got out of jail and she tells him that she made sexual overtures at the guard. I could feel the presence of all the people outside, at night, in the dark. Emma decides that Ella boiled her chicken and storms out. However, we have dozens of other monologues that you can read. Wesley then enters and sets up a small enclosure in the kitchen. Today: After riots, fires, a major earthquake, landslides, and flooding, Los Angeles continues to grow. Ella returns from jail, exhausted, to find Weston cooking breakfast for Wesley. The conventions of dialogue in the play again present this mixture. Whatever the cause, the Tates will do just about anything to raise themselves out of the downward spiral into which theyve fallen. After this outburst he passes out. Even sleeping people I could feel. When she turns around she finds that there is a man standing in the room with her. Laws against marital rape, for instance, gain ground in many states that had previously resisted them. Ella tells Emma that the horse is crazy and that she is too young to leave home but Emma refuses to listen. Act I When the bodys defenses fail and intruders are allowed to breed inside the body, the play tells us, the body will soon fall to those forces that threaten it. I could hear the coyotes. *Our system only provides suggested monologues or songs for select characters if we have matching monologues and song information in our database. Alone, Ella stares at Weston asleep on the table; he sits up, they look at each other, she runs off, and he lurches toward the refrigerator, kicking artichokes out of his way. Wesley takes the money, offering to deliver it to the people his father owes money to. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. The Word Is My Shepard. In New American Dramatists, 1960-1980. The tom cat and the eagle start fighting in midair, with the cat clawing out the eagle's chest, and the eagle trying to drop it. The lights go down with him staring in the open fridge. New York, NY, Linda Ray Then I hear the door of the Packard open. Wesley deduces that Taylor is the one who sold Weston worthless desert property in the first place. . They are realistic as stage properties, but the sheer quantity Weston brings home is obsessive, imparting a meaning beyond their food value. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Ella begins to act antsy and Emma realizes that Ella has boiled her chicken. We only provide suggested audition monologues or songs for an individual character if our system finds content that matches a character's traits. He remembers a time he was castrating sheep and appeased an eagle by throwing testicles up on a tin roof where the bird could get them. Wesley assures his father that the gang will get him, and Weston takes off for Mexico. date the date you are citing the material. Weston, sober, neatly dressed, folds laundry while talking to the lamb. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. 2003 eNotes.com Joseph Chaikin & Sam Shepard May 18 2022 Friends since 1964, correspondents since 1972, playwright Sam Shepard and director Joseph Chaikin established . American Gothic: Sam Shepard's Family Trilogy.. Important moments, themes, monologues:-gender roles-Emma's monologue about being a mechanic and swindling her mom out of money "Curse of the Starving . Later, she becomes so angry about Ellis buying their house, she rides the family horse into his bar and shoots the place full of holes. Their daughter, Emma, is a smart and rebellious teen, itching to get away from her crazy home. Mother and son find out Weston is in debt to some dangerous men. In the fridge, she finds some bacon and bread and, as she fries up the last of the familys meat, Wesley thinks about himself and his father and recalls a memory: I was lying there on my back. One foot right through the door. He tells Weston that he has butchered the lamb for food. In the play, as in the real world, these families were often taken advantage of, selling their land for well below market rates and finding themselves with nowhere to go and little money to sustain them. VerMeulen, Michael. The plays action demands a working refrigerator and a working stove, yet there are no walls to define the kitchen, and the ruffled, red-checked curtains that are suspended in midair do little to confirm a concrete reality. Even all the sleeping animals. Two motifs, very near each other in meaning, recur throughout Curse of the Starving Class: images of inside/outside and images of disease and sickness. Emma Tate is the daughter of Ella and Weston Tate. 1970s: With the first wave of feminism, women begin demanding equal treatment by the law and by their husbands. Where Wesley seems angry with her for provoking Weston to anger, Ella holds that the incident was entirely Weston's fault. Ella stares at the lamb. Ella and Ellis argue, Ellis shows her the deed Weston gave him, and Taylor arrives to settle his deal with Ella. Taylor enters and talks with Emma, who calls him creepy. In the end he was cheering for the eagle. Emma, by way of contrast, often shouts her lines from offstage. Word Count: 958, Curse of the Starving Class begins with Wesley, in sweatshirt and jeans, tossing pieces of a door into a wheelbarrow. New York: Performing Arts Journal, 1981. Teeth covered with peanuts. Emma returns, still furious, and the three begin an argument about the starving class and whether or not they are part of it. Center stage is a table, downstage a refrigerator and stove. "Curse of the Starving Class" was praised for its handling of dark comedy that finishes with a sinister surrealism. date the date you are citing the material. Feet and hands tearing. Emma explains that her father broke the door down the night before in a drunken rage. Upgrade to PRO Malcolm enters and informs the family that Emma has been arrested for riding her horse through the Alibi Club and shooting up the bar. Foot kicking door. "Curse of the Starving Class - Media Adaptations" Drama for Students Act two opens on Wesley and Emma in the kitchen, where Wesley is building a new front door for the house. Ella Tate Curse of the Starving Class. Breakdown. His teen-age sister, Emma (Lizzy DeClement), on the other hand, can only howl about being emotionally ripped off. Man cursing. Emma goes to the refrigerator and begins to look for her chicken. But Shepard retains the symbolic structure of his earlier plays. Create and promote branded videos, host live events and webinars, and more. President George W. Bush proposes an energy policy that stresses greater production, but many citizens mistrust this policy because of Bushs and Vice-President Dick Cheneys ties to oil companies and the energy industry. Weston tells Ella to let Emma go and then there is a bright flash and a loud explosion from outside. Ella and Taylor leave together, and Emma runs off again. Sam Shepard: The Life and Work of an American Dreamer. At the end of the play, the skinned lamb carcass symbolically suggests the sacrifice of Wesley, or perhaps Emma, to a malevolent force. "Curse of the Starving Class - Historical Context" Drama for Students Ink and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Play with History. Closely connected to the symbolic structure of the play is its use of motif, or a recurring image. Curse of the Starving Class: Directed by J. Michael McClary. In a way, Weston plays his role as a father perfectly: what would the patriarchy be without chest thumping? Shepard, though, does not define the familys curse just as a disease, though; this curse is more historical and supernatural, like the curses that afflicted the great families of Greek tragedy. Taylor is in disbelief, and Ellis threatens him. New landPlymouth Rock, California, Alaska, or anywhere in betweenis settled and cleared for farming or industry by rugged individualist pioneers; more people move near that newly desirable land, and towns spring up; the towns grow so big and encroaching that the rugged individualists feel crowded by city life (or are unable, economically, to survive) and move on to find new frontiers. The three of them begin arguing about whether they are the starving class, while Wesley urinates on Emmas chart. I could smell the avocado blossoms. He then came inside and took a bath, made a big breakfast, drank some coffee, and did everyone's laundry. 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