Synopsis
A 40-something public relations executive–furious over the election of George Bush and fed up with the ubiquitous video culture–decides to avoid all media for a few months. His wife and their best friends are ironically supportive but as the deadline gets extended, our “hero” becomes more detached from reality and his troubled teen-aged children. His professional disappointments are underscored by the appearance of an old friend from journalism school who became a successful news photographer. In the penultimate scene, seven years later, the daughter and the photographer sort through the wreckage of the family, the nature of which is revealed in the final scene. Seven characters. Four males: 45, 45, 45, and 14. Three females: F 45, 45, 17/24 (in 1989 and 1996.) Visual possibilities from that year: Exxon Valdez, Tiananmen Square, San Francisco Earthquake, Berlin Wall. One set. 22 scenes. 100 minutes.
Excerpt
1989 – 5-Page Dialogue Sample [PDF]
Monologues
Origin
The morning after George Bush was elected president I vowed to not look at media for a year. I lasted three weeks. As that pivotal year of 1989 unfolded, I began to think about how tethered we are to images, so much so that we ignore those around us and are blind to their needs, especially our children. Now, thirty years later, that disconnect seems even more applicable, more prescient. I think of this play as a dark valentine to my fellow Baby-Boomers and all our privileged entitlements.
