BOOKS BY TRACY LETTS AVAILABLE FROM TCG
August: Osage County
Killer Joe
Mary Page Marlowe
Superior Donuts
Three Sisters
Mary Page Marlowe is copyright © 2016 by Tracy Letts
Mary Page Marlowe is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc.,
520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156
All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the author’s representative: Ron Gwiazda, Abrams Artists Agency, 275 Seventh Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10001, (646) 461-9325.
Joan Didion, “On Keeping a Notebook,” copyright © 1961, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1961. “Saloon: Mock Ballad,” Lyrics by George Whiting, Music by Roland E Llab, © 1921 M Witmark & Sons. “Tammy,” Words and Music by Jay Livingston and Raymond B. Evans, copyright © 1956 by Jay Livingston Music, Inc. and St. Angelo Music (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
The publication of Mary Page Marlowe by Tracy Letts, through TCG’s Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution.
Library of Congress Control Numbers:
2016039122 (print) / 2016045560 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-55936-855-1 (ebook)
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Book design and composition by Lisa Govan
Cover design by John Gall
Cover photo by Serge Giotti/Millennium Images
First Edition, December 2016
FOR MOM
I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door at four A.M. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends.
—Joan Didion
CONTENTS
Production History
Characters
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
Scene 4
Scene 5
Scene 6
Scene 7
Scene 8
Scene 9
Scene 10
Scene 11
Mary Page Marlowe received its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Anna D. Shapiro, Artistic Director; David Schmitz, Managing Director) on April 10, 2016. The production was directed by Anna D. Shapiro. The scenic design was by Todd Rosenthal, the costume design was by Linda Roethke, the lighting design was by Marcus Doshi, the sound design was by Richard Woodbury, and the original music was by Diana Lawrence; the production stage manager was Malcolm Ewen. The cast was:
MARY PAGE MARLOWE
| Ages 59, 63, 69 | Blair Brown |
| Ages 27, 36 | Carrie Coon |
| Age 50 | Laura T. Fisher |
| Age 12 | Caroline Heffernan |
| Age 19 | Annie Munch |
| Ages 40, 44 | Rebecca Spence |
| LOUIS GILBERT | Jack Edwards |
| WENDY GILBERT | Madeline Weinstein |
| LORNA | Tess Frazer |
| CONNIE | Ariana Venturi |
| ANDY | Alan Wilder |
| ED MARLOWE | Stephen Cefalu, Jr. |
| ROBERTA MARLOWE | Amanda Drinkall |
| SHRINK | Kirsten Fitzgerald |
| NURSE | Sandra Marquez |
| RAY | Ian Barford |
| DAN | Gary Wilmes |
| BEN | Keith D. Gallagher |
MARY PAGE MARLOWE
Age 10 months
Age 12
Age 19
Ages 27, 36
Ages 40, 44
Age 50
Ages 59, 63, 69
LOUIS GILBERT
WENDY GILBERT
LORNA
CONNIE
ANDY
ED MARLOWE
ROBERTA MARLOWE
SHRINK
NURSE
RAY
DAN
BEN
NOTE
Wendy Gilbert, ages 16 and 20, should be played by the same actor. Roberta Marlowe, ages 19 and 32, should be played by the same actor.
SETTING
Various locations in Ohio and Kentucky.
1986.
Mary Page Marlowe is forty.
Her son, Louis, is twelve.
Denny’s. Dayton, Ohio.
LOUIS: I get all these mixed up. (Pause) Can you keep these straight? I can’t remember how they go. (Pause) Mom.
MARY PAGE: What.
LOUIS: Tell me how these go.
MARY PAGE: You don’t know your states.
LOUIS: I always get these mixed up.
MARY PAGE: Do you have a geography class?
LOUIS: