After Ashley

Last updated

After Ashley is a 2004 play written by Gina Gionfriddo.

Contents

Productions

The play was a hit at the 2004 Humana Festival of New American Plays [1] in Louisville, Kentucky where it received its world premiere in March 2004. The play was commissioned by Philadelphia Theatre Company and received staged readings at the 2003 O'Neill Playwrights Conference of the Euguene O'Neill Theatre Center. [2]

It was then produced Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, from February 11, 2005 to April 3, 2005. The run had been extended "in response to strong audience and critical support." [3] This production was directed by Terry Kinney and starred Kieran Culkin, Anna Paquin, Dana Eskelson, and Grant Shaud. [3] For his performance as Justin, Culkin won an Obie Award in 2005. [4]

Regional productions

The play was produced by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington D.C. in September 2005 to October 2005, directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner. [5]

The play was presented by the Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) at the Plays & Players Theatre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in February to March 5, 2006, with direction by Pam MacKinnon. [6] The play received a reading at the PTC STAGES series in Fall 2003. [7]

Plot

In 1999, Justin Hammond lives with his mother and father, Ashley and Alden. They endure trials and tribulations of being a dysfunctional family due to Alden's passive-aggressive nature and Justin's desire to want to be able to grow up without having to talk to his mother about topics such as sexual intercourse or drug usage. An argument ensues when Alden informs Ashley that he has hired a homeless man to do some finishing touches on their long postponed yard work. As a result, the homeless man (who is given the name Glen but is not given any stage time) murders Ashley and leaves her body in the basement for Justin to find. Justin immediately makes a call to 911 to inform them of his mother's murder.

Three years later, in 2002, Alden and Justin have been invited to appear on a talk show in Central Florida with TV producer David Gavin to talk about Alden's best selling book, entitled After Ashley. Alden makes certain that everyone knows of the pain he and Justin have endured since losing a wife and mother, but Justin continuously gives unhelpful and insulting answers to all of David's questions, and protests that simply because someone has died, doesn't mean that all their recognition should be directed on only the good qualities of their character, and not only that, but Alden is lying about his wife to make the two of them look good.

That night, Justin sneaks into a bar where he meets Julie, a girl with a gothic image who recognizes him as the "911 Kid". At first, Justin talks about his "love" for Jesus Christ, which he shortly thereafter admits he was only lying to be funny. During this conversation, he attempts to "figure her out" so that she'd be more interested in having sex with him, which as it turns out, is why Julie initiated a conversation at all. So they go to Justin's apartment that night.

The following day, Alden comes in and is surprised by Julie's presence, but decides to tell Justin that he has news: David has decided to produce a new show depicting crimes similar to Ashley's murder and unresolved cases, and he has put a demo of an episode on a VHS tape that they plan to screen the next day. To add on to the problem, David shows up shortly after that and announces that he is opening a homeless shelter entitled "Ashley House", which will open on the same evening. Justin, disgusted by this news, employs the help of a sex cult leader named Roderick Lord to help in any way he can to ruin the premiere. With the aid of Roderick, Justin is able to swap the demo episode for a sex tape that Ashley had made with Roderick when she was still alive, only in exchange for his making a sex tape with Julie. The screening happens the next day, beginning with an introduction from David, a statement read by Alden, and finally an excerpt from a poem read by Justin, and as Ashley's sex tape premieres, Justin lashes out at a painting that was created for the premiere by slashing it. Appalled by this, Alden leaves the screening and cuts off Justin financially.

After the exposure, Justin and Julie sit on the edge of a lake and talk about their relationship, or lack thereof. They resolve that in the end, it would be best for them to be together due to some of the hardships that Justin has had to endure and because his need of a female companion whom he wasn't uncomfortable with, their relationship would be an ideal solution. As this conversation is happening, Ashley's ghost is standing behind them, yet, they are both oblivious to her presence, as she looks at their union disapprovingly.

Characters

Awards and nominations

The play was a finalist for the Steinberg New Play Award in 2005. [8] [3] [9] The play was one of three nominees for the Outer Critics Circle Award, John Gassner Playwriting Award. [10] [11] The play was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Play.

Related Research Articles

Will Eno is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, Thom Pain was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play The Realistic Joneses appeared on Broadway in 2014, where it received a Drama Desk Special Award and was named Best Play on Broadway by USA Today, and best American play of 2014 by The Guardian. His play The Open House was presented Off-Broadway at the Signature Theatre in 2014 and won the Obie Award for Playwriting as well as other awards, and was on both TIME Magazine and Time Out New York 's Top Ten Plays of 2014.

The Glory of Living is a 1996 play by Rebecca Gilman. The play received its first production at the Circle Theatre Chicago in Forest Park, Illinois. The play has won several awards and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. R. Knight</span> American actor

Theodore Raymond Knight is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. George O'Malley on the ABC medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2007.

John Nicholas Tartaglia is an American actor, singer, and puppeteer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Rabe</span> American actress (born 1982)

Lily Rabe is an American actress. She is best known for her multiple roles on the FX anthology horror series American Horror Story (2011–2021). For her performance as Portia in the Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice, she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Cantone</span> American comedian, writer, singer and actor

Mario Cantone is an American comedian, writer, actor, and singer best known for his numerous stage shows. He also played Anthony Marentino in Sex and the City and Terri in Men In Trees (2006-2008). His style is fast-paced and energetic, with much of his humor coming from his impersonations of characters ranging from family members to celebrities to stereotypes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Lonergan</span> American film director, playwright, and screenwriter

Kenneth Lonergan is an American film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He is the co-writer of the film Gangs of New York (2002), and wrote and directed You Can Count on Me (2000), Margaret (2011), and Manchester by the Sea (2016). Lonergan is also known for his work as a playwright. His most noted plays include This Is Our Youth, Lobby Hero and The Waverly Gallery. Each also had a successful revival engagement on Broadway, which resulted in each play receiving a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Isabel Keating is an American actress and singer. She is known for her performance as Judy Garland in the original Broadway production of The Boy from Oz, which earned her a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award.

Douglas Carter Beane is an American playwright and screenwriter.

Brooklyn Boy is a play by American playwright Donald Margulies. The play premiered in 2004 at South Coast Repertory and then on Broadway in 2005.

Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway as well as in the UK. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Scott Wise is an American theatre actor and dancer. He is known for his performances in the 1989 musical Jerome Robbins' Broadway, which earned him a Tony Award, and in the 2002 film Chicago.

Gina Gionfriddo is an American playwright and television writer. Her plays Becky Shaw and Rapture, Blister, Burn were finalists for the 2009 and 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, respectively. She has written for the television series Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, FBI: Most Wanted, The Alienist, and House of Cards.

Becky Shaw is a play written by Gina Gionfriddo. The play premiered at the Humana Festival in 2008 and opened Off-Broadway in 2008. The play was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Intimate Apparel is a play written by Lynn Nottage. The play is a co-production and co-commission between Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland, and South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California. The play is set in New York City in 1905 and concerns a young African-American woman who travels to New York to pursue her dreams, becoming an independent woman as a seamstress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marin Ireland</span> American actress

Marin Ireland is an American actress. Known for her work in theatre and independent films, The New York Times deemed Ireland "one of the great drama queens of the New York stage". She has received nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Tony Award.

<i>The Kid</i> (musical)

The Kid is a musical with a book by Michael Zam, music composed by Andy Monroe and lyrics by Jack Lechner. The comic story concerns an open adoption process by a same-sex couple. It is based on the 1999 non-fiction book by Dan Savage, The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant. The protagonist, Dan, is a sex advice columnist who decides to adopt a child with his partner Terry. Throughout the musical the couple encounter difficulties including making the decision to adopt, finding a birth mother, and overcoming apprehension about the adoption process.

Omnium Gatherum is a play written in 2003 by Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros. It was one of three finalists for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Jordan Harrison is an American playwright. He grew up on Bainbridge Island, Washington. His play Marjorie Prime was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Reg Rogers is an American stage, film, and television actor, known for his roles in Primal Fear and Runaway Bride and for the TV miniseries Attila. He also appears in theater, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway.

References

  1. ↑ "28th Annual Humana Festival". Archived from the original on 2007-03-16.
  2. ↑ Simonson, Robert. "Humana Hit 'After Ashley' Likely to Reach New York in 2004-05" playbill.com, April 13, 2004
  3. 1 2 3 Hernandez, Ernio. "'After Ashley' with Culkin and Paquin Extends Off-Broadway Through April 3" playbill.com, March 1, 2005
  4. ↑ Simonson, Robert. "Shanley, Hughes, Culkin, Marvel, O'Connell Among 2005 Obie Winners" playbill.com, May 17, 2005
  5. ↑ Berlin, Susan. [www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/dc/dc197.html "Washington Review. After Ashley] talkinbroadway.com, September 16, 2005
  6. ↑ Dunleavy, Tim. "Philadelphia Review. After Ashley" talkinbroadway.com, February 14, 2006
  7. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "'After Ashley' Plays Philly, Where It Was First Commissioned" playbill.com, February 8, 2006
  8. ↑ "Steinberg New Play Award Winners". Archived from the original on 2008-06-18.
  9. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio. "Craig Lucas' 'The Singing Forest' Wins Steinberg New Play Award; 'Clean House', 'After Ashley' Place" playbill.com, April 4, 2005
  10. ↑ "Outer Critics Circle Awards, John Gassner Playwriting Award" abouttheartists.com, accessed August 28, 2015
  11. ↑ "Awards for 2004-2005" outercritics.org, accessed August 28, 2015
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.