Michael Van Kerckhove
- Whatever Notions
Evelyn is a former child beauty queen who longs to be Miss America. Her husband, Victor, is a butcher who hunts for Communists and Nazis in the backyard. Evelyn’s younger sister, Rue, is a third grade teacher who yearns to ride the rhythms of the Beat Generation. Grandma, has an affinity for matchmaking and pink flamingo lawn ornaments. Evelyn and Victor’s ten-year-old son, Eddie, has a fondness for tin cans and finding sanctuary in his tree house. Victor’s eccentric, closeted older brother, Jake, visits the household. Below the surface of these humorous quirks and peculiarities lie secrets and unspoken truths. Another surprise visitor takes the family on a journey blurring the line between reality and impossibility.
Two-Act: length? min.
4M: one 10-year-old
3F
- Losing Lulu Drayton
Eric, a gay white man, receives messages on his answering machine from Reginald, a member of the African American Mt. Zion First Holy Miracle Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side. At first annoyed by the calls, Eric becomes fascinated, as well as unsure why he receives them. After a year, he hears about the death of church member, Lulu Drayton. Thrown into a whirlwind of sadness, he also wonders why he cares so much for this woman he never knew. Through Reginald’s messages, Eric finds a spiritual and cultural connection to the Black church, as he searches for his own gay identity. At the same time, Eric’s sensitive, quiet boyfriend, Scott, has become emotionally and physically distant since the death of his mother. Scott befriends Tamron, an African American homeless woman, who has been searching the city for her old phone number, which she feels will lead her back to the man whose calls she misses. The lives of Eric, Scott, Tamron, and Reginald all intersect at Lulu Drayton’s funeral service, where they all learn how one woman’s sin tore people apart, and brought them back together.
Two-Act: length? min.
3M:
1F:
- The Melted Lampshade
Bitchina (William), is a New York drag queen/performance artist who as a child first met an imaginary friend, Frederick, immediately following his mother’s funeral. One day, his friend became real. Then Frederick ran away. At last, while doing his show in a New York club, Bitchina meets his friend again. Frederick confronts the meaning of his existence, and Bitchina relives the drama that shaped his sensitive gay being. An exploration of fantasy, magic, realism and surrealism, which asks “What do we do with something that’s no longer needed?”
First produced by The House of Bü at The Playwrights’ Center of Minneapolis, June 2002.
Recipient of a 2001 Finalist Grant from the Illinois Arts Council
One-Act: length? min.
3M:
1F: