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Lichtig, Robin Rice (American playwright, 19__-____), “Embracing the Undertoad,” a 35-minute comedy-drama in English, set in a small apartment in North Carolina, winter evening, recent past,

3f;

  ©  2002 by Robin Rice Lichtig;  •  in Robin Rice Lichtig’s Embracing the Undertoad (New York: Author, 2002);  •  script/rights available from Robin Rice Lichtig,  780 West End Ave., #6F, New York, New York 10025, U.S.A., e-mail dramamama@nyc.rr.com, www.dramamama.net, telephone (home) 212-864-0201, fax 212-864-0201.

  §  Dramatis Personae Agnes (f), 42, Madeline’s domestic partner, waitress, lesbian, North Carolinian; Madeline (f), 32, Agnes’ domestic partner, North Carolinian; Bella (f), 30, Agnes’ younger sister, ethereal hippie, very beautiful, manipulative, needful.

  §  Synopsis “Agnes and Madeline live together. Bella, Agnes’ younger sister, pays a most unwelcome visit. Agnes tries desperately to get her beautiful, manipulative sister to leave—not realizing that Bella has just died in a car accident, that the person she sees is actually Bella’s spirit. Bella tells Agnes that she can’t leave until she can find rest. For that she needs Agnes to know that she loves Bella. Meanwhile, Madeline guesses that Bella isn’t all she seems to be. A reversal comes when Bella reveals that she desperately needs her sister. Agnes realizes that Bella’s irritating ‘oracle impression’ hides real love.

  §  Comment “One scene. One set. Set may be as simple as a double bed, table, and lamp. Special requirements: desk lamp should turn on ‘by itself,’ and a little remote-control car needs to be operated from offstage so it appears to also run by itself.”

  §  Themes female bonding, feminism, lesbian, North Carolina, visit, women.
 

See also Robin Rice Lichtig’s

•  “David's Disappearance,” a 15-minute comedy-drama in English, set on a screen porch, Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.A., October, 2001, 2m
• “Evening Primrose in Ohio,” a 30-minute comedy-drama in English, set in a laudromat, late afternoon, recent past, 1m1f
• “The Fortification of Miss Grace Wren,” a 40-minute drama in English, set in a small park in New York City, late September, 2001, 1m1f
• “Grannie Bird,” a 35-minute comedy-drama in English, set in Williamstown, Massachusetts, May, 1986, 1m2f
• “Patience and Mr. Potter,” a 12-minute comedy in English, set in an overgrown lot, New York City, February, summer, 1910, 2m
• “Queen for a Day,” a 45-minute comedy-drama in English, set in a kitchen, February, 1953, 2m1f
• “Roses to Plan,” a 12-minute comedy in English, set in a kitchen in Brooklyn, NY, morning, recent past, 1m1f
• “Sitting Duck Season,” a 17-minute drama in English, set in a cabin in a Vermont forest, autumn, recent past, 1m1f
• “Squeezing Papayas,” a 5-minute comedy in English, set on a terrace on hill outside of Mexico City, early summer morning, 2002, 1m1f
• “Toot Toots,” a  17-minute comedy in English, set in New York Harbor, 2003, 2m1

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Page mounted May 3, 2002, and updated May 4, 2002, March 23, 2003, by the Webmaster.