0. 14. Shifting unconsciously. Something indescribable. Wesley protests feebly. weve done it again! Ella begins to act antsy and Emma realizes that Ella has boiled her chicken. "Curse of the Starving Class - Summary" Drama for Students He tells her that as he put them on he could feel his own essence slipping out of him, and his father's essence coming into him. Word Count: 713. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Foot kicking door. Mother and son find out Weston is in debt to some dangerous men. He is easily taken advantage of and when his debts are not paid, it takes an even more terrifying toll on the people close to him. He has brought a bag of artichokes that he bought while visiting his worthless desert property. Taylor argues that Weston is legally incompetent to sell the house and boasts that he has corporations and executive management behind him. Even all the sleeping animals. Man yelling. Wesley asks her how she got out of jail and she tells him that she made sexual overtures at the guard. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, See more characters from She then becomes angry with the refrigerator and slams it shut. Wheels screaming off down hill. Like several of Shepard's plays, Cures of the Starving Class explores family dysfunction in Western America. I could feel myself in my bed in my room in this house in this town in this state in this country. I could feel the space around me like a big, black world. Wesley enters and they discuss Weston's laundry and the best way to help the lamb with the maggots. In the play, as in the real world, these families were often taken advantage of, selling their land for well below market rates and finding themselves with nowhere to go and little money to sustain them. Ella Tate Curse of the Starving Class. What he didnt know then, but worked out in glorious play after play, once hed found his vocation, was why, amid all the waste and destruction, a boys heart would still beat faster whenever his father drove up the road, a father confused about his family and his effect on them, lost to any idea of love, trying to catch dreams at the bottom of a bottle. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Curse of the Starving Class Jan 26 2023 Tells the story of a dysfunctional family living in a farmhouse they are planning to sell in the hopes of moving on to bigger and better things. The three of them begin arguing about whether they are the starving class, while Wesley urinates on Emmas chart. As the play continues we constantly see this theme emphasized: conversations in the kitchen are conducted in a normal tone of voice, but conversations between one person in the kitchen and another person outside the room are almost always furious screaming matches; the refrigerators constant opening and shutting reminds us that inside is an empty place; even the lamb, when brought onstage by Wesley, is placed into a small penned enclosure. Center stage is a table, downstage a . Wesley enters, sets up a small fenced enclosure in the kitchen, exits, and reenters with a lamb. So many artichokes seem bizarre in a household where there is never enough to eat. The cast was as follows: The play was revived Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre, running from July 30, 1985 to February 16, 1986. Bulls. Its themes include the struggle for dignity, moral obligations to family members, and the effect of money in America. No sight. Having the set self-destruct is meant to indicate, of course, that trouble is on the way, but why make such an overdetermined move when Shepard clearly reveals, in the ensuing dialogue and action, how troubling the story were entering is? Ella returns with groceries that Taylor has bought for the family and throws out the artichokes. Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. [5] The cast was as follows: Wesley - Ebbe Roe Smith Ella - Olympia Dukakis Emma - Pamela Reed Taylor - Kenneth Welsh Weston - James Gammon Ellis - Eddie Jones Malcolm - John Aquino Me, the enemy. Ella tells Emma that the horse is crazy and that she is too young to leave home but Emma refuses to listen. From a mile off I could tell it was the Packard by the sound of the valves. The lamb is heard before the lights come up on act 3. Floating. eNotes.com, Inc. Ink and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Play with History. "A Little Princess" "I love this monologue because of its sincerity. Then crying softly. Heart pounding. Jump-start your essay with our outlining tool to make sure you have all the main points of your essay covered. The agriculture drew refugees from the Dust Bowl states during the Great Depression, and poor people thronged to southern California. 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. She tells Wesley that she knows about Westons foolish purchase of desert land sight unseen, and Wesley deduces that it was Taylor who sold him the land. 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. Emma asks the refrigerator why it doesn't have any food because they aren't part of the starving class. [2] The play was commissioned by Joseph Papp and premiered in London in 1977 before playing at Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival in 1978. Whenand where doesTheCurse of the Starving Class take place? Emma runs away, only to return covered with mud, thrown by her horse. Curse of the Starving Class premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Shakespeare Festival, on March 2, 1978, presented by Joseph Papp. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Hart, Lynda, Sam Shepards Metaphorical Stages, Greenwood Press, 1987. They tell him that they have blown up the car with Emma in it. 1. Weston is a destructive and angry man . Taylor departs surreptitiously; Ellis grabs his money from Wesley and rushes off, with Wesley in pursuit. We dont see Weston for a while, but hes everywhere in this run-down home, or everywhere that violence and destruction have taken place, including in his sons and his wifes consciousness. Bulls. Largescale irrigation beginning in the late nineteenth century made the desert bloom, and soon the area (along with the Imperial and Central Valleys) was Americas richest farmland, producing citrus fruits, melons, berries, even lettuce and other water hungry crops. SHARE. Gale Cengage 353 subscribers Episode 10: Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class Sam Shepard wasn't just a playwright but an actor himself, fully into the arts. The symbols work together to undermine the realism of the play. Our Essay Lab can help you tackle any essay assignment within seconds, whether youre studying Macbeth or the American Revolution. Wesley and Ella talk about Westons eagle story as the play ends. Take a look at our library of free monologues . The lights go down with him staring in the open fridge. But the people who came to Los Angeles did not want to live in the same kinds of overcrowded cities many of them had left back East. Maggie Siff, as the wife of an abusive man, in Shepards story of a broken family. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original 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. King, Kimball. American Gothic: Sam Shepard's Family Trilogy.. These objects are indeed symbolic, but they are meant to hit the audience with their power. I could feel the headlights closing in. Wesley Tate is the son of the family. Michael and me -- well, we're closer than most brothers and sisters. 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. Curse of the Starving Class is a play by Sam Shepard, considered the first of a series on family tragedies. Watt, Douglas, In the End, Emptiness, in New York Daily News, March 3, 1978. Hello, this is Emma's monologue from Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard. As the play opens, she and Wesley are both looking through the chunks of the broken door that her husband, Weston, broke in a fit of rage. *Our system only provides suggested monologues or songs for select characters if we have matching monologues and song information in our database. Monologues for Females: THAT DAY (adapted from Inside/Out by Michael Scanlon). . Download the entire Curse of the Starving Class study guide as a printable PDF! 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. Just from my dad coming back. 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. 6162. They have blown up Westons car, unaware that Emma was inside. Waiting to get out. 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. 2003 eNotes.com Vol. Emma goes to the refrigerator and begins to look for her chicken. Incapable of driving or holding a job, he is a profoundly unstable man controlled by the alcohol that runs in his system. [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. His mother, Ella enters, and Wesley and she talk about the events of the night before. [1] Others consider it part of a quintet that includes Fool for Love (1983) and A Lie of the Mind (1985). New York, NY, Linda Ray Wesley then explains to Emma that it is not typical homebuyers who are going to purchase the house, but that it is land developers. Once she is arrested she says that she gains her freedom by offering sexual bribes to the sheriff. Vol. Westons only way of being a father is to exercise his paternal privileges, which, in Shepard-land, include wreaking havoc, fucking up your kids and your wife, and squandering the future; we learn by the second act that, in order to pay off loan sharks, Weston has already sold the property, to a bar owner named Ellis (Esau Pritchett, who has a lot of strength and appeal, though Kinney doesnt temper his performance, either). Ellis grabs the money back from Wesley (feeling that now he is owed for the damage to his bar), and the act closes as Ella agrees to come to the police station to pick up Emma. . They swipe at each other viciously over their conflicting hopes and dreams until they rip each other to shreds. Afraid of sound. See more characters from Sam Shepard. Weston Tate is the father of the family and an abusive alcoholic. Wesley refuses to stop Emma, and Ella begins to tell him about her plans to sell the house. My Jap Zero. She and Weston argue heatedly. Urban sprawl came to Los Angeles. Ignition grinding. The open spaces that once separated them have largely disappeared; similarly, the farmland that once was the areas largest economic resource has long since given way to other industries. Then WESLEY'S mother, ELLA, enters slowly from down left. Los Angeles grew dramatically in the middle of the twentieth century, becoming one of Americas largest cities. Then moving around through house. Ella is the mother of the family in Curse of the Starving Class. He pulls out the. Ellis enters, laughing at the passed-out Weston who is slumped on the kitchen table. "Curse of the Starving Class - Bibliography" Great Characters in Literature Then I could picture my dad driving it. Some critics consider it part of a Family Trilogy that includes Buried Child (1979) and True West (1980). Create and promote branded videos, host live events and webinars, and more. The act ends with Weston (finally) waking up with a start, and Ella running out of the house. Manage Settings He then suggests that they move away to some place safe, like Alaska. . She appears to be the most bizarre character in the play, yet is also the most normal member of the family. All rights reserved. Weston tries to explain the poison to Wesley by comparing it to the way to you poison a coyote by putting strychnine in the belly of a dead lamb. date the date you are citing the material. This act opens with Weston, who is now clean, and sober. When Kinneys staging of Curse begins, we hear snatches of rock and roll as the lights come up on a large, dirty kitchen whose door to the outside world has been busted in. Sound of door not opening. Language. The first motif almost overwhelms the play with its omnipresence. Weston tells Wesley that he got up early and took a walk around the house and decided he wanted to stay, so he cleaned up, bought food, made a huge breakfast, and did all of the laundry. Wesley takes the money, offering to deliver it to the people his father owes money to. Makes me feel like were someone else. California suffers from rolling blackouts, and the major population centers of the East Coast are warned about similar blackouts or brownouts. "Curse of the Starving Class - Media Adaptations" Drama for Students The speculators and developers then began building subdivisions in the areas immediately surrounding the city. I could feel the headlights closing in. Gale Cengage If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. He is a wicked man, a villain in the story. Ella goes downtown to get Emma out of jail. Mumbling about his experience flying planes in the Second World War, he passes out again. Packard disappearing. Wesley tells her, when she asks if he is going to take over the role of Daddy Bear, that he feels himself becoming his father, that as he put on Westons clothes, he could feel something growing on him. Hello, this is Emma's monologue from Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard. Upgrade to PRO eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Kaufmann, Stanley, What Price Freedom? in New Republic, April 8, 1978, pp. Wesley then begins to gorge himself on all of the food in the refrigerator. Whys he waiting to get out? Curse of the Starving Class was adapted as a film in 1994 by Shepard and Bruce Beresford and produced by Breakheart Films. Clean laundry is stacked on the table; the room has been swept. all the upkeep! My heart was pounding. Curse of the Starving Class premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Shakespeare Festival, on March 2, 1978, presented by Joseph Papp. I could feel myself lying far below them on my bed like I was on the ocean and overhead they were on reconnaissance. The use of the artichokes in Curse of the Starving Class suggests both the realistic and mythic aspects of Shepards dramatic strategy. Ellis, the owner of the bar where Weston drinks, enters with $1500 and says he owes Weston for the sale of the house; Ella orders her son to throw him out. Heart still pounding. Dad's a foul talking drunk, and Mom is desperately trying to save what's left of their family life. He then came inside and took a bath, made a big breakfast, drank some coffee, and did everyone's laundry. Back down driveway. 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. Gale Cengage Realism, a style of drama that seeks to represent the world on the stage just as it is in real life, was out of favor in the 1960s, the decade in which Shepard began writing. [7], Curse of the Starving Class won the 197677 Obie Award for Best New American Play.[8]. California, especially southern California, is perhaps the best laboratory to examine this development. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance At the end of the play, the skinned lamb carcass symbolically suggests the sacrifice of Wesley, or perhaps Emma, to a malevolent force. Wesley tries to tell them that Weston is his father. Sam Shepard. Mom screaming for police. The curtain falls as Wesley and Weston discuss how to rid the lamb of the maggots that are infesting its digestive tract. I could feel this country close like it was part of my bones. To help, she has some suggestions for fantastic dramatic monologues for child actors. One foot right through the door. Weston asks the lamb a question or twowith no door on the kitchen, is he inside or outside, meaning does he still have power over all that he surveys?before starting to complain about how little his family can do without him. The eagle carried the cat away, and they fought until both came crashing down. He tells Weston that he butchered the lamb for food, but Weston yells at him and shows him the newly stocked refrigerator. 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. Ella. Peacocks. Ella enters and she and Weston discuss Emma's shooting up of the club. Wearing a 4-H Club uniform, Emma carries charts illustrating how to cut up a chicken. Motif Video . He compares it to a zombie invasion and takeover, where the zombies build their own city. First gear grinding. View All Characters in Curse of the Starving Class, Curse of the Starving Class guide sections. Ella falls asleep on the table and Wesley, dressed in Westons old clothes, enters. Ella Tate is the mother of the family. 28 Feb. 2023 , Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Directors and actors tend to latch onto the more obvious effects in Shepards writing, including the types of characters he returned to time and again: disgruntled drunk dads, battling spouses and siblings, forsaken lovers. He tells her to take a nap on the table because itll do wonders for her. Him just sitting in the car. Vol. Emma explains that her father broke the door down the night before in a drunken rage. Ella talks about the curse that is plaguing their family. 14. Wesley says that Emma doesn't want to do it just because she is on the rag, so she throws down her markers and gets up to add the water. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Wesley then leaves and Emma returns, covered in mud after being thrown from the horse and dragged through the mud. The last date is today's Act two opens on Wesley and Emma in the kitchen, where Wesley is building a new front door for the house. Word Count: 89. However, many of the same issues (such as access to abortions and birth control, equal pay for equal work, and affirmative action) still remain to be resolved. Ella and Wesley react differently to Westons abuse. "Curse of the Starving Class - Compare and Contrast" Drama for Students How old is Wesley in "Curse ofthe Starving Class"? As his mother fries him some bacon for breakfast, he recalls the images going through his mind as he lay in bed listening to the splintering of the door. The Tates live on a farm where they formerly raised sheep and grew avocados. Wesley tells him that he ran into a brick wall. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall Ellis says that Weston must have sent Emma down there and takes back his $1,500 and runs off to his club, swearing he will get revenge on Weston. Wesley appears, bloodied, and tells Weston that he has tried to get the money back. Slater also brings the dead lamb's carcass into the house. His symbolsthe lamb, the broken door, the refrigerator, the old carjump out at the viewer and almost announce I am a symbol! But Shepard uses them less as true symbols than as evocative images. Moral obligations to family members, and did everyone 's laundry and the major population centers the... Our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and your California Privacy Rights Westons eagle story the! Of its sincerity discuss how to rid the lamb with the maggots that are infesting digestive! Mother, ella, enters slowly from down left carcass into the.... Uses them less as True symbols than as evocative images for fantastic dramatic monologues for Females that. Up of the Starving Class to rid the lamb for food, but yells. Table because itll do wonders for her chicken up Westons car, unaware Emma... 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