Graduate College

The University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

___________________________

MASTER’S THESIS

___________________________

This is to certify that the Master’s Thesis of

Lisa Gail Leaverton

for the thesis requirement for the Master of Fine Arts

degree in Playwriting (Theatre Arts) at

the May 2010 graduation.

Thesis Committee:

Arthur Borreca, Thesis Supervisor

i

n

ONE PLUM

by

Lisa G. Leaverton

Copyright

All Rights Reserved

February 15, 2010

1024 Walnut St.

Iowa City, IA 52240

(319) 400-8676

l_leaverton@yahoo.com

i

Copyright by

LISA LEAVERTON

May 2010

All rights reserved

ii

To my Mother for her noble efforts to shore

everything up.

iii

There came a time when the risk to remain tight

in the bud was more painful than the risk it took

to blossom.

Anais Nin

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ONE PLUM has progressed through an ensemble process with the input and

guidance of Katie Pearl, Director; in addition to overseeing the development of the script

into a full-length work, her numerous contributions include many of the exercises used in

ensemble to generate the unseen world of the insects. Dramaturg Kate Stopa has worked

with the play since its earliest draft. The following performers participated in the

workshops and contributed to the original experiments and exercises: Emily

Anderson,Jessica Egli-Davis. Samuel Hawkins, Nicole Hussein, Marek Muller, Mollie

Laylin, Daisy McKinley, Megan Norman, and Joshua Raheim

The work was performed as a short play in its first draft at Eclectic theatre in

HURRICANE SEASON One-Act Play Festival in Los Angeles in August, 2009, directed

by Levi Packer with the following cast: Stephanie Edmonds as MARY, Jacob Ortuno as

ADAM, Melissa Baez, Theresa DeVeaux and Beth Ricketson as WAY OF THE WILD.

The work received the Graduate Playwriting Award from The University of

Iowa Center of Human Rights in honor of the 10th

Anniversary of The Center and an

excerpt was read at The Old Capitol Senate Chamber in Iowa City in Oct. 2009 by the

following actors: Patricia Clark as MARY, Maggie Conroy as WAY OF THE WILD,

with Judy Leigh Jones reading WAY OF THE WILD narration, Patrick Reynolds as

WAY OF THE WILD, and Carl Rux as ADAM.

0

INTRODUCTION

One Plum, a full-length theatre work and poetic meditation on ecology, explores

the Garden of Eden myth anew, as a comedy of human relations within the natural world.

Centering around a plum ripening, and the humans, insects and animals awaiting it, the

play progresses through small events of nature in microcosmic detail, below and above

Mary and Adam’s backyard. The work is an experimental proposition in which human

character is subverted to make space for the equally compelling lives of other species.

The play uses inherently theatrical structures found in nature, ecological systems

in plant biology, for example and opens the view to details we don’t ordinarily see, such

as a blossom opening petal by petal. The non-traditional text formatting, in which

characters are separated by columns, is used to help retain the simultaneous presence of

the elements, and also to work as a score, in its articulation of the invisible world of

insects and plants.

Like most of my work, the play’s experience is achieved not only through poetic text,

but sound, visuals and movement, which combine to create a listening environment.

Although the work was generated in ensemble, and would benefit by ensemble work, this

text-based work may be reconstituted and interpreted by a director. My notation strategy

has been to indicate flexibility to a director in how she/he interprets the levels of text,

while offering thorough documentation of the process used before, as an optional

resource for a director.

My hope is that the work challenges an audience to invest in non-human and human

events equally. I explore the urgency in seemingly unimportant activities, such as finding

1

food or securing a mate, the failure of which might potentially lead to the demise of an

organism or species. I want the dizzyingly large universe to open through tiny details as

Adam recounts scientific facts to Mary as she sleeps. I hope my audience feels their own

eyes widening along with Mary’s as she witnesses the natural events, and loneliness

along with Adam, upon facing the infinite, and futility in trying to control a small world

that does not respond to rationality, but continues to spiral out of control, endangered by

human actions in ways unforeseeable. By refusing a traditional route to character, I hope

to inspire awe in our planet through emptying the expression of entitlement to which

humans cling at the expense of other species.

2

CHARACTERS

MARY: In her 30’s.

ADAM: In his 30’s. MARY’S husband.

THE WAY OF THE WILD: A shifting composite non-gendered force rather than a

character, fulfilled by a minimum of 5-6 actors/dancers/performers, 3 female and 2 male,

or 4 female and 2 male actors. The role amplifies through sound and movement the

process/nature of weeds, insects, animals, the elements, and a plum tree as well as human

and AUDIENCE “nature.” Multiple actors fulfilling the role of WAY OF THE WILD

will allow for “the spirit of the hive” or idea of a “super-organism” to be present in the

work. The actions should illustrate text only obliquely or energetically rather than

striving for realism. The AUDIENCE behavior is characterized as belonging to the

domain of WAY OF THE WILD. The actors inhabiting all these roles may fluctuate, and

function as constituent parts of each life form. The play will begin and end with the

weeds, those of which were before us and will be here after us.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

All roles are non-specific with regards to ethnicity or body-type, but the roles should

preferably be balanced to represent ethnic diversity so that “nature’s” own creative

variety is represented.

Total cast: 8 actors will be optimal, 3 male actors and 5 female actors

1 female actor, 30-40 years of age

1 female actor, 20-25 years of age

2 female actors-40-50 years of age

1 female actor, 60-70 years of age

1 male actor, 30-40 years of age

2 male actors, 40-60 years of age (If a cast of 7 is used, only 1 male actor, 40-60 will

be needed.)

3

NOTES ON TEXT

Spaces in the script, while they are empty of speech, are not empty moments, but

potent and full of listening. The poetry of the text should be maintained and tuned. This

piece is conceived to be an environmental experience, in addition to a theatrical event,

with text and acoustic sounds complementing each other, and fulfilling the overall

composition. The formatting is used to preserve simultaneity, or the presence of all

elements.

The italicized narrative passages may be approached as desired by a director. I

discovered that reading these or not will result in two very different experiences. In a

happy coincidence, a British actor read narration during the reading at The Center For

Human Rights. The exquisite delivery by Judy Leigh-Jones approximated the comedic

eloquence of nature documentary narration. In another reading, I experimented leaving

these out, allowing comedy to be achieved through the sparseness of text, and through

timing of action and silence. Each reading proved effective. I have indicated in

parentheses passages of text that is strictly technical and need not be read.

NOTES ON SOUND ENVIRONMENT

A live percussive sound environment invites audience to begin listening as they

enter. Opening and closing sound/movement sequences should slowly evolve, arising out

of communications between performers. Percussive surfaces may be incorporated into set

to be used by performers to communicate, in addition to vocalizations. Textures may be

4

incorporated into costumes, used by performers as percussive surfaces. Performers

should select rhythmic sequences from the text. These rhythms might include “They

wait/They listen/They begin,” p 64, or “It was imminent/It was longed for,” p 53. If they

are first introduced as rhythm, before occurring in the text as spoken word, the rhythms

will be perceived to sync up with text. The play concludes with sound. The continued

focus of performers will help audience resist the urge to disturb the environment with

applause.

NOTES ON COSTUMES AND MAKEUP

White makeup typically used in Butoh might be used on hands, forearms, and feet

of actors play WAY OF THE WILD, heightening the sense of relatedness, close, yet

foreign, between insects and humans. The makeup should also bring attention to the style

of movement, whereby the body is manipulated as though by puppetry as in Butoh.

NOTES ON PERFORMANCE METHODS

Any of the exercises in the appendix, found in the end pages of the script may be

used during the rehearsal process to create textures for the invisible world of insects and

to assist an ensemble in their ability to work with a range of dynamics. These dynamics

may be applied musically once the vocabulary of sounds and gestures is established to

range from a state of alertness to a state of urgency so that the smallest, most subtle

gestures may be read by audience and create a world of listening and urgency. In

addition, research materials are listed in the end pages.

5

SETTING

The home and backyard of MARY and ADAM. The modular stage platform is raised so

that the audience gaze rests fifteen inches above the platform, and so that the audience

may take in the view beneath as it occurs to them to look. The yard platform is broken

into units that can be removed as the world of insects or humans is disturbed or

rearranged. Three benches were used in workshop as mobile set pieces in a variety of

scenes: WAY OF THE WILD, enacting Weeds, positioned themselves beneath, hands,

arms, feet appearing above. At another point benches were up-ended by the beetles,

signaling a disturbance in the yard, and replaced when calm was restored. The benches

also became trees when rested on their ends. The platform should have irregular edges,

indicating a single yard broken away. This is open to interpretation. It might be a jigsaw

puzzle or more rough, organic cross-section of earth. Audience seating may fit around its

edges, which might be covered with sod so that audience views each other from the neck

up across the lawn, and smells the dirt and grass, and so there is a subterranean effect.

Somewhere in the platform is an opening, so the characters may access the area below

the stage platform, and enter and exit. There is the shadow of a plum tree.

SCENES:

Hot Summer

Short Autumn

Warm Winter

Early Spring

Hot Summer

Autumn

6

MARY and ADAM are distracted from listening and looking for so long. Their senses are

stretched. They are preoccupied. There are long delays between responses, as though

ADAM and MARY barely catch the ball before it touches the ground. Sometimes they

miss and the other person has already moved on. It is possible they only have a vague

recollection of what has been said since it was so long before.

8

The insects are on alert,

communicating to each

other, each with their

distinct movements and

sounds, positioning.

The beetles encounter

obstacles, a clod of dirt,

another insect. Nothing

impedes them in their

determination.

Another season announces

itself.

HOT SUMMER

!

!

!

!

The eyes of THE WILD,

peer out from above and

below.

!

!

!

!

MARY has returned

from work.

In the shadow of the

plum tree, MARY

removes her dress,

crumpling it into a ball.

She tosses it into a far

corner of the yard. She

pulls on a pair of pants

and puts on her

gardening gloves.

!

MARY yanks at some

Weeds.

9

Weeds reach into the

space above, growing.

As MARY touches the

Weeds they disappear

below.

More Weeds appear from

below.

With each yank,

The weeds grow in

abundance despite

MARY’S efforts to

eradicate them.

The weeds are introduced.

Rough non-melodic tones,

almost indecipherable.

Again!

Another yank.

How?

Another yank.

A hard yank.

That’s what.

Over the line.

Go.

10

Bristly mallow.

Buttonweed.

Pennywort.

Lespedeza.

Plaintain.

Nettle.

Wild violet.

Clover!

!

Each time MARY pulls

one, another weed

replaces it.

!

The weeds claim their

ground solidly.

!

!

Milkweed!

Creatures are disturbed. A

fluttering. Flashes of

color. Bright sounds of

names flash, dart and

swirl sporadically.

These are the exclusive

messenger- pollinators.

Butterflies! Moths.

You’ll take over.

You’re choking the

others.

Mary pulls hard and

falls backward.

MARY pulls more

Weeds with more vigor.

11

Swallowtails…

Whites…

Sulfurs… monarchs…

pearly crescent-spot…

spring azure…

gray hairstreak.

!

!

The weeds claim their

ground, asserting their

names in flat nonmelodic

tones, barely

decipherable.

Aster!

More creatures are

disturbed. Flashes of

color. Names burst in

sporadic, bright tones.

Butterflies. Moths.

Whites… sulfurs… pearly

crescent-spot …

Caterpillar…

checkered skipper…

goldenrod sulfurs…

monarch…

gray hairstreak…

giant swallowtail…

!

Oh!

MARY yanks.

Brambles. Stickers.

Prickly. Burrs. Out.

MARY yanks.

MARY yanks somewhat

less energetically.

12

More weeds emerge from

below replacing pulled

weeds. A flat, unmelodic

assertion.

Clover!

More creatures are

disturbed. Colors. Names

flash in bright tones.

Butterflies and moths.

Tiger swallowtail… black

swallowtail… sulfurs…

Caterpillars…

gray hairstreak…

silver-spotted

skipper…

checkered skipper…

MARY slumps, takes off

her gloves and gives up.

MARY wipes her

forehead and lies in the

grass under the tree.

MARY recalls names she

has memorized.

Amber. Astrid?

Aurora…

36

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

She’s mumbling./She’s

turning. This way. Now

the other./Is she asleep

or is she awake.

!

!

!

!

!

.

!

!

!

SOUNDS of cicadas

predominate. A dramatic

finale.

MARY and ADAM sleep,

one leg touching.

Accidentally.

!

After a time, it is

Morning. After a time,

ADAM rises and grooms

for work. His

movements resemble an

insect’s. ADAM is cold.

ADAM pulls his pants

back on. He struggles

with his shoes, lying on

his back. Adam tries to

pull a sweater over his

head but it becomes

stuck.

ADAM bends and bends,

but this is not the right

action. Finally he is able

to pull the sweater over

his head. Now ADAM is

hot.

Mary mumbles from

sleep.

No.

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

38

The butterflies rise. The

Moths float elsewhere.

!

ADAM is stalked and

clasped like prey by

WAY OF THE WILD.

The functions of the tree

are spoken singly by WAY

OF THE WILD, yet

comprise the efforts of

the tree in its entirety.

Things are in motion.

!

Even before the end of the

growing season, before

their foliage dies down,

the trees must produce

buds for the next spring.

While they still have

energy. While you are

hanging about, the tree is

creating its next season.

When the workday is

done, ADAM wanders

back to his home,

talking to himself.

This day reminds me of

an afternoon in Tijuana.

Un-budging.

!

!

ADAM seems unaware

of danger.

40

Another season announces

itself.

WARM WINTER

He struggles to remove

his tie unsuccessfully.

He turns it around to the

back.

ADAM struggles with

his shoes. He unbuttons

his shirt. His struggles

Resemble an insect’s.

I’m home. It’s autumn,

I’m told.

ADAM Listens.

Stirring in her sleep.

Mmm…

MARY is half-asleep.

No. It’s already Winter.

I went to sleep. I said

now I’ll sleep. I’m so

tired.

!

And I woke up. My

alarm didn’t go off.

Is it Tuesday?

Mary falls back into a

sleep

41

Autumn is gone.

Haven’t you heard the

announcement from the

trees?

The parts of WAY OF

THE WILD are spoken

singly, yet comprise the

efforts of the tree in its

efforts to withstand the

chill.

The bark chills.

Our roots contract,

refusing moisture.

How do you suppose

we survive?

The evaporation of

moisture prevents

breakage of our limbs.

Were we to grow heavy

and freeze, we would

break. Shivering!

If you only knew that the

Snow cover keeps

everything warm beneath.

Winter’s begun just

now?

It’s darker than I

remembered.

42

The mammals stir.

They root in the

disappearing moist

pockets of soil and seek

the tenderest of the

cold roots, one last time.

ANIMALS are curled

together, as always, on

alert. They breathe.

Tiny gestures at low

volume.

The rabbit listens and

breathes. Its ears hear.

ADAM listens.

The wind.

MARY turns over.

Would you mind

terribly.

Sleepily.

She always cries at

night.

43

WAY OF THE WILD is on

high alert.

An owl is heard by

someone, but not

everyone.

Mary.

ADAM moves toward

MARY.

ADAM and MARY lie

feet to feet, their

position resembling that

of an insect’s.

ADAM listens.

Mary?

ADAM sleeps.

ADAM wakes up

suddenly.

Have you noticed?

!

!

I know.

44

!

!

!

!

WAY OF THE WILD on

high alert.

Why is it that

coincidence is so

satisfying?

Yesterday I noticed that

everything I had to do

began with a B?

Book

Bell

Bank

Birthday card.

ADAM turns to MARY

almost touches her face

but she turns over in her

sleep.

Sleepily.

I don’t know why.

MARY dreams of names.

Brett? Brice…

45

The Audience feels their

internal organs

warming them.

The rabbit has not escaped

notice of the owl. Its

shape appears upon the

snow.

Night sounds. Insects on

alert. Strange, unknown

sounds.

Spoken with alertness.

Upon the spring of the

rabbit’s foot, the owl has

plunged.

Why is it that sometimes

someone smiles at you

for no reason.

My teeth aren’t white.

I said… Oh, never mind.

ADAM rolls over again

and sleeps fitfully.

!

Spoken from sleep.

It will come again.

46

!

Happy Birthday.

Mary?

ADAM can’t sleep.

Have you heard of the

twenty-five hundred

pound snake? Forty-five

feet long? That’s no lie.

Sixty million years ago.

That’s not an

exaggeration. Have you

heard of the super-

volcano?

We were already extinct

once for two hundred

thousand years. I’m not

kidding.

Have you heard how

bacteria can seed

rainfall?

From sleep.

So quickly.

47

The audience wonders.

Is she dreaming./

She’s tossing and

turning.

!

!

I can’t sleep.

ADAM sits up abruptly.

Have you heard about

the tenderness of chimps

to other chimps?

About a chimp named

Knuckles? With cerebral

palsy?

None of the other

chimps were seen acting

aggressively toward

Knuckles due to his

disability.

Even the dominant male

showed gentleness,

helping groom

Knuckles.

From sleep.

To her, time seems

slow.

48

He’s sleeping./He’s not

awake./He’s still asleep.

A Bird sound.

It is still dark.

Have you heard about

the discovery of a new

planet three hundred and

ninety light years away?

It’s smaller than the

earth. Have you.

ADAM sleeps fitfully.

ADAM hears something

unknown and starts. He

listens.

Not entirely.

Did you know…

ADAM hears something.

He yawns.

Birds.

ADAM falls into a deep

sleep, finally. Morning

arrives.

MARY stirs, hearing the

birds.

Mmmm…it’s coming.

87

APPENDIX

Suzuki exercises are recommended for use in order to create a state of constant urgency

and readiness.

1.“Hive Mind” exercises help establish an ensemble dynamic, in which WAY OF THE

WILD continually re-establishes a leader.

2. A sound/body journey through space, performers crawling and vocalizing, then

traveling along a wall to explore kinesthetic connections between voice and body will

help performers to establish comfort with sound experimentation. They might be called to

consider how the pressure of their body against the wall might alter their voice.

3. Establishment of individual gestures can be created through viewpoints exercises, such

as “statues” and developed as follows:

Gestures by tempo: slowed, sped up

Gestures by volume: magnified, diminished

Gestures paired with sound

4. Listening to real nature sound recordings, performers can pick an individual voice and

track it. It need not be realistic or a facsimile of real nature. A chorus can then be created,

with the use of various directions:

Performers call to themselves, varying volume, tempo and pitch.

Performers respond to each other by slowing, speeding up. It need not be in sync. The

tempos might vary along with the qualities of each sound.

5. Viewing videotapes of insect behaviors, such as eating, mating and building can help

performers identify industrious movements based on these activities, and help the human

characters identify repetitive motions that resemble those of insects.

6. Passages of WAY OF THE WILD speech may be explored, with each ensemble

participant taking up parts of a body and ascribing a different function to the part,

allowing both stimulus and response in relation to other parts to inform the movements.

The text might be broken and spoken by various body parts, for example the passage

spoken by WAY OF THE WILD on pages 62-63, beginning with “The insects recoil” and

page on 64, beginning “The animals lap and lick to cool and soothe their fur.” These

passages might be divided into functions-brain, appendage, eyes, antennae and ears.

Performers might circle words that apply to their part or sense. This will form a ragged

whole, for example, the brain may speak text throughout, but will be prompted first by

senses.

7. Experiments with powders for the festival of pollination allow for exploration of

mutual relations between insects and flowers and what this might look like.

8. Research Materials might be distributed to the ensemble or viewed by the group.

88

RESOURCES

1. Charlton, Noel. Understanding Gregory Bateson; Mind Beauty, And The Sacred Earth. State University of New York Press; Albany, 2008. A discussion of ecology as mental process. 2. Attenborough, David. The private life of plants. Princeton University; Princeton, 1995. A glimpse into evolutionary biology with photos of “creative” adaptations. 3. Ennos, Roland & Sheffield, Liz. Plant Life. Wiley-Blackwell; Oxford, 2002. In-depth descriptions of survival adaptations of plants. 4. Nature’s services. Gretchen, Ed.; Daily Island Press; Washington D.C.,1997. Essays about services nature provides for human life. 5. Weisman, Alan. The World Without Us. St. Martins Press; NY, 2007 A proposal for the lasting effects of humans to the planet, and recovery of the planet upon the extinction of homo-sapiens. 6. Hoyt, Erich & Schultz, Ted. Insect Lives; Tales of mystery and romance from a hidden world. First Harvard University Press paperback edition, 2002.

A compendium of writing on insects reveals human opinion of insects, as much

as the secret activities of insects themselves. Useful for identifying detailed

behaviors.

7. Wilford, John Noble. Almost Human and Sometimes Smarter. NY Times Science

section.

<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res+990DE4DA113FF934A25757C0A9619

C8B63&sec+&spon+&pagewanted+2>

Research on Chimps.

FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

Additional materials may be useful for establishing movement vocabulary. Any videotaped performance by the Open Theatre, including documentation of their process will be useful, as well as an exploration of Butoh.

89

BIO

Lisa Leaverton, Playwright, Collaborative Artist, Activist is from Brooklyn, NY and runs a

collective (inquire within) devoted to ephemeral theatre of the everyday. Lisa began

collaborating as a performance artist at the 14K Cabaret in Baltimore while studying violin

at the Peabody conservatory and took up playwriting. Lisa is working on Life’s Course; for

the worms, a full-length play about genetic warfare and seed homogenization.

One Plum, Iowa Center for Human Rights Playwriting Award, (2009), a full length

experimental theatre work, is in process in ensemble workshop with director Katie Pearl. It

was performed in its first incarnation as a one-act at Eclectic Theatre Company Hurricane

Season Playwriting Festival, August, 2009. Eco-drama, the sea cares nothing will have a

reading at Seattle Rep and tour with Northwest Play Alliance in June 2010. “PERHAPS,”

one act (2008) was performed by The Living Theatre for the National Free Night of Theatre

in Oct 2009, and at CSPS, Cedar Rapids in 2008. How Catherine D_____ Got Her

Expression, a one-act, exploring how one reclaims expression after trauma of violence,

was performed in December 2009 at University of Iowa. WHY LOVE DOESN’T

RECOGNIZE ITS NAME, Richard Maibaum Award (2008) a comedy about euphemistic

speech, had a staged reading at Portland Center Stage, NOW HEAR THIS! New Play

Series, June, 2008. A Blue We All Know (2008), about the loss of “space” for humans

and whales was featured in a Gallery production at University of Iowa, Oct. 2008. Theatre

of The Body (2001), a series of lecture demonstrations created in collaboration with

choreographer Katharine Livingston was sold out nightly at Philadelphia Fringe with

seating in a traditional dissection theatre for 12 audience members. Since graduating from

Peabody Music Conservatory, Lisa has costumed Theatre and Dance companies,

including Headlong Dance and Pig Iron Theatre Co. Lisa participated in foolsFURY Suzuki

and Viewpoints intensive and Goat Island Performance workshops, and KCCTF, 2007.

Recipient of a Felton scholarship, and Jean Schaal Scholarship, Lisa is a candidate for the

MFA in playwriting at University of Iowa. Lisa won first prize in Arts and Research in the

Jakobsen Conference on Civic Engagement.

90