The refrigerator is the focal point of the action; each member of the family is obsessed with its emptiness. He is the one who actually put the bomb in the car that kills Emma. It is morning. In the end he was cheering for the eagle. I could feel the presence of all the people outside, at night, in the dark. I could feel myself in my bed in my room in this house in this town in this state in this country. Dogs. Word Count: 958. English. The last date is today's Weston asks where Ella is, and then goes into a rage when Wesley and Emma tell him where she went. Even sleeping people I could feel. Feeling strong ties to his family and to the land, Wesley maintains the farm after the others have given up. The curse on the family is described by both women as something that breeds internally in Weston and Wesley and is inevitable. Urban sprawl came to Los Angeles. Emerson and Slater enter, laughing and holding the bloody carcass of the lamb. Weston looks around and moves to the refrigerator. By the time she enters the action, theres nothing left for her in the fridge, not even the chicken she raised so that she could kill it and cut it up as a demonstration for the 4-H Club. Weston Tate is the father of the family and an abusive alcoholic. Maggie Siff, as the wife of an abusive man, in Shepards story of a broken family. Where Wesley seems angry with her for provoking Weston to anger, Ella holds that the incident was entirely Weston's fault. His mother, Ella (Maggie Siff), enters, wondering why her son is doing what hes doingcleaning up after the guy who broke the door down, otherwise known as Weston (David Warshofsky), Wesleys father and Ellas spouse. She climbs up and stretches out on it as Wesley, completely naked, enters. [1] Others consider it part of a quintet that includes Fool for Love (1983) and A Lie of the Mind (1985). Acts 1 and 2 both begin with characters engaged in simple question-and-answer conversations which serve to provide expository information necessary to an understanding of what has occurred before the start of the play or between the acts. Hello, this is Emma's monologue from Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard. The property requirements suggest a realistic, if not a naturalistic play. Motif The Tate family is a lower middle class, rural California family, trying to hold on to the last shreds of a family bond and traditional living. Center stage is a table, downstage a refrigerator and stove. The men tell Wesley, still calling him Weston, that he is to pass on the warning to his father and they leave. Heart pounding. No sight. Weston tries to calm Wesley down, and to wake Ella up, but cannot seem to do either. Part of the immensely useful Twaynes U.S. Even all the sleeping animals. From a mile off I could tell it was the Packard by the sound of the valves. This play cannot be decoded as an allegory in which we can reduce the refrigerator to a representation of spiritual hunger, the lamb to a representation of sacrifice and innocence, and the door to a representation of the barrier between the family and the outside world. . I could hear stock cars squealing down the street. They wanted large houses, cars, two-car garages, front and back yards. Wesley does not want to do it because he is making the door and Emma doesn't want to do it because she is remaking her posters. Their daughter, Emma, is a smart and rebellious teen, itching to get away from her crazy home. 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 consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Wesley and Ella talk about Westons eagle story as the play ends. Emma then yells down that she is going to take the horse and leave. Shepard makes similar realistic and mythic use of costumes; the clothes in which Weston is first seen also fit Wesley. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Emerson, a small well dressed thug, enters, giggling about the explosion. Hart, Lynda, Sam Shepards Metaphorical Stages, Greenwood Press, 1987. 1. City-dwellers seeking lower taxes, lower crime rates, and less congestion came to these suburbs. They are realistic as stage properties, but the sheer quantity Weston brings home is obsessive, imparting a meaning beyond their food value. He and Emerson represent the men that Weston owes money to, and have come to serve as a warning. Like so much else in Curse of the Starving Class, she is presented realistically, but there is a mythic quality to her character. Feet stopping. I could see the trees being lit one after the other by the lights, then going back to black. Wood splitting. Conservatives, however, decry feminism, blaming it for rising divorce rates and what they see as a breakdown of the nuclear family. Floating. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. The play was initially produced in London at the Royal Court Theatre on April 21, 1977, directed by Nancy Meckler. Manage Settings Wesley protests feebly. Employee communication . He is the representative for several large corporations that are looking to buy up land. Slater also brings the dead lamb's carcass into the house. Gale Cengage Ella returns from jail, exhausted, to find Weston cooking breakfast for Wesley. While he is fulminating, Sgt. Wesley enters and decides that Emma's project is pointless and that she ought to focus on more important things. When he pushes the wheelbarrow off, Ella begins a conversation about menstruation that seems directed at another person, but no one is there. When Weston finally comes home, carrying a bag of artichokes that nobody really wants to eat, he discovers a live lamb that Wesley brought in because it has maggots. Video . Even tractors sitting in the wetness, waiting for the sun to come up. He tells the children that he has found a buyer for the house, and Emma leaves abruptly. . Shoulder smashing. The curse, as Ella puts it, of the Tate family is that they have nitroglycerine liquid dynamite running in their blood. [9] The play focuses on the disturbed Tate familythe drunken father, burned-out mother, rebellious teenage daughter, and idealistic sonas they struggle for control of the rundown family farm in a futile search for freedom, security, and ultimately meaning in their lives. Ella, Wesley's mother, enters the kitchen. Who or what can fill these people up? One foot right through the door. 14. However, we have dozens of other monologues that you can read. men who came back from the war, had to settle down, raise a family and send the kids to schooland they just couldnt handle it. That was what Shepard knew as a boy. Shelves: plays, aty20. Sam Shepard: A Casebook. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! The Castmates Who Make You Care in Beetlejuice and Tootsie. Vol. The man tells her that his name is Taylor and that he is looking for her mother. Ella, in curlers, wearing a bathrobe, is angry with Weston for having broken the door during the night, but brightens at finding bread and bacon in the refrigerator. Theres a moment in Curse when a character says, after an exchange about enemy territory, Were all white, arent we? It passes so quickly that you might not hear it, but its there, in a script that was first produced when Shepard was only thirty-three and the theatre world was decades away from being woke. Thats what I treasure about Shepard: his matter-of-fact observations about where his characters stand in the worldobservations that also tell us so much about the world they inhabit. eNotes.com, Inc. Act II publication online or last modification online. The play opens with Wesley putting pieces of a broken down door into a wheelbarrow. Mans voice. Curse of the Starving Class Wesley, in sweatshirt, jeans and cowboy boots picks up pieces of a broken door and throws them methodically into an old wheelbarrow. Create and promote branded videos, host live events and webinars, and more. His teen-age sister, Emma (Lizzy DeClement), on the other hand, can only howl about being emotionally ripped off. Peacocks. The agriculture drew refugees from the Dust Bowl states during the Great Depression, and poor people thronged to southern California. 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. As the play opens, she and Wesley are both surveying the chunks of the door broken down by her husband Weston. He asks what happened to Wesley, who had clearly been beaten up. date the date you are citing the material. Wesley is not happy with his mother's decision, and she continues to try and ask him to go stop Emma. She participates in 4-H, she is an excellent student, and she wants to make something of herself. His partner, Slater, enters after him, playing with the skinned lamb carcass. Tense. Word Count: 302. Ella has not returned from her meeting with Taylor. Hes slept there before. The play ends as Wesley, his back to his mother, concludes the story. 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. Gale Cengage Emerson, a hit man, enters giggling, followed by his partner Slater, carrying the skinned lamb carcass. Dad's a foul talking drunk, and Mom is desperately trying to save what's left of their family life. publication in traditional print. Wesley asks her how she got out of jail and she tells him that she made sexual overtures at the guard. Swaying very quietly like they were being blown by someones breath. Ella finally enters and says that she is going on a business luncheon with Taylor. The symbols work together to undermine the realism of the play. He has done his laundry, which is all nicely folded on the table, and the lamb is back in the kitchen. 14. The drama is here to create an impact: whereas the realistic story of the family appeals to our minds and emotions, the symbols affect us on a subconscious level. [5] As the crisis ends, both politicians and the public realize that these shortages were created arti- ficially by oil-producing countries and oil companies in order to boost profits. I picture him just sitting. Taylor arrives for his luncheon date with Ella; the children treat him rudely. Some population geographers see the U.S. cities of Los Angeles and San Diego and the Mexican city of Tijuana as one immense megalopolis, a mega-city with tens of millions of inhabitants. The Curse of the Starving Class Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Malcolm enters and informs the family that Emma has been arrested for riding her horse through the Alibi Club and shooting up the bar. 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. It is the next day. In addition, playwright Sam Shepard is himself an actor and can be seen in over a dozen wide-release films (many with his longtime partner Jessica Lange), including Country, Places in the Heart, and The Right Stuff. She wants to know what he wants her mother for and he tells her that he is in the real-estate business and is helping her mother sell the house. He tells the lamb a story about an eagle who was diving very close down to the ground trying to steal the testes of the lambs he was castrating. Ella Tate Curse of the Starving Class. Wesley then leaves and Ella begins to give a motherly talk on what happens during menstruation and what cannot be done during the cycle. Ella returns with groceries that Taylor has bought for the family and throws out the artichokes. Act-by-act or chapter-by-chapter summaries and reviews of the plays and books I am currently reading. Cobwebs moving with them. The playwright Sam Shepards matter-of-fact observations about where his characters stand in the world tell us so much about the world they inhabit. Download the entire Curse of the Starving Class study guide as a printable PDF! Suspended in air, left and right, are faded curtains. Emma, by way of contrast, often shouts her lines from offstage. Ella begins to yell at Weston for pulling a Jekyll and Hyde act by changing overnight. VerMeulen, Michael. Sam Shepards Curse of the Starving Class is a darkly comic look into the world of dysfunctional Tate family, as they struggle amongst themselves for food, freedom, and meaning in their run-down lives. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Ed. His wife, Ella, is utterly burned-out and will do just about anything to leave her husband behind. Today: Feminism is in its third wave. As many of the issues feminists initially fought for have become law, feminist groups turn their sights on other issues. 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 citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. When: what time period Where: city and state. I could smell the avocado blossoms. He is uninterested in the other crimes that Wesley and Ella accuse Taylor and Ellis of, stating that he is only there to tell Ella about Emma. Weston tells Ella to let Emma go and then there is a bright flash and a loud explosion from outside. Even the lamb suffers from an invasion of a harmful force in its body: maggots have infested its digestive tract. I am aware that I have taken on characters that are outside of my RACE, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, DIALECT, and AGE. Taylor argues that Weston is legally incompetent to sell the house and boasts that he has corporations and executive management behind him. If Noel Cowards character were chic and elegant then Sams were real rootless and raw and I like it! 2023 Cond Nast. Underdogs take center stage in a newsroom drama about Rupert Murdoch and in Taylor Macs spin on Shakespeares first tragedy. Christian H. Moe. She first tries to run away by taking the family horse, but it throws her off and drags her through the mud, so she comes back. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. She then decides to steal her mother's car and take up a life of crime, claiming that it is the only way to make a real living in this world. Eder, Richard, Theatre: The Starving Class, in New York Daily News, March 3, 1978, p. C4. New York: Grove, 1982. Taylor declares that he will go to court and have the deed taken back and then buy the property from Ella, then leaves the house. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. 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. I could feel the headlights closing in. Then I heard him pull the brake. The speculators and developers then began building subdivisions in the areas immediately surrounding the city. 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. The curtain falls as Wesley and Weston discuss how to rid the lamb of the maggots that are infesting its digestive tract. Watt, Douglas, In the End, Emptiness, in New York Daily News, March 3, 1978. Emma walks out. In her attempt to steal the car, she is blown up with the car by the bomb that Slater puts in it. Advertising in newspapers around the country, they encouraged people to come to Sunny California! to retire or simply to flee the frigid northern climates or unhealthy cities of the East. Wesley wanders in, dazed and naked, wet from his bath. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Man throwing up. He has brought a bag of artichokes that he bought while visiting his worthless desert property. Weston enters, even drunker than he was before. . Soon, the music is interrupted by a great rumble, and the kitchen walls break in half. Instead, it chooses to bring the eagle down, even if it means certain doom for the cat as well. This act opens with Weston, who is now clean, and sober. In an eerie way he is speaking neither to his mother nor directly to the audience; instead, the audience is allowed to hear his thought processes. Ignition grinding. 2425. Returning, Emma asks, What kind of a family is this?. date the date you are citing the material. American Dreams: The Imagination of Sam Shepard. Disclaimer: Some of the articles on Mighty Actor include affiliate links to sites like Amazon, Skillshare, and others. "Curse of the Starving Class - Summary" Drama for Students 14. Weston yells at him, telling him that they didn't need the food, because the refrigerator is full for once. Foot kicking. Weston tells Wesley that he has decided to stay and fix up the house instead of leaving, no matter who holds the deed. Wesley returns as Weston fills the refrigerator with artichokes he bought in the desert. Foot kicking harder. "Curse of the Starving Class - The Play" Survey of Dramatic Literature Weston talks to the lamb briefly, and then begins putting the groceries, which turn out to only be desert artichokes, in the refrigerator. Paper bag covering Tiger Rose. Feet coming. Today: The U.S. again faces an energy crisis, but this time the shortages and exorbitant prices affect electricity. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. We only provide suggested audition monologues or songs for an individual character if our system finds content that matches a character's traits. Taylor appears and tells Ella that he has the final draft of the deed of sale. Ella has called the police because Weston threatened to kill her, but she doesnt leave right away; Wesley is upset that his mother has summoned outside forces to their home. Beaufort, John, Off-Broadway: Tale of a Blighted Family, in Christian Science Monitor, March 3, 1978. . Today, Los Angeles is one of the largest urban conglomerations in the world. Finding the chicken she butchered for her demonstration gone, she storms off. Weston is proud of Emma, saying that it takes guts to do something like that at her age. [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. Wesley describes the suburbanization going on around them as a zombie invasion and tells her he dreams of going to Alaska. The play closed on April 9, 1978. I could feel this country close like it was part of my bones. The first motif almost overwhelms the play with its omnipresence. Download the entire Curse of the Starving Class study guide as a printable PDF! Whatever the cause, the Tates will do just about anything to raise themselves out of the downward spiral into which they've fallen. He advises Wesley to do the same. Ella tries to take the money from Wesley, but he tells her there is not enough to go to Europe on. The Tates live on a farm where they formerly raised sheep and grew avocados. He pulls out the $1,500, telling them that is the amount that Weston owes to some pretty hard fellas. *Our system only provides suggested monologues or songs for select characters if we have matching monologues and song information in our database. The play closed on April 9, 1978. . Try it today! Then I hear the door of the Packard open. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Incapable of driving or holding a job, he is a profoundly unstable man controlled by the alcohol that runs in his system. 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. Further Reading Wesley assures his father that the gang will get him, and Weston takes off for Mexico. Looking at the lamb carcass, she asks Wesley to help her remember the story Weston always told about the eagle. As a country whose greatest natural resource has always been its seemingly endless supply of land and space, the United States settlement and development has generally followed the same pattern. Emma tells Ella of her dream of going to Mexico and becoming a mechanic. Ella points this out to Emma and Emma storms off, insisting that she is going to take the horse and run away. They say that they blew up Westons car. Wesley and Emma then argue over who is going to go add water to the artichokes that are boiling on the stove. 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. . The man tells her that he was going to knock but that there was no door. Shifting unconsciously. The set similarly incorporates both realistic and mythic elements. , are faded curtains real rootless and raw and i like it was the Packard by the bomb that puts! The stove even the lamb is back in the desert amount that is... Other monologues that you can read burned-out and will do just about anything to leave her husband.! Packard open first tragedy, we have dozens of other monologues that you can.. 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