Down Deep

Harris, Larry (aka Lawrence R. Harris, American playwright, screenwriter, 1960-____), “Down Deep,”

a 20-minute drama in English, set in the backyard of a handsome, old-style house in a New York area suburb, an autumn night, present,

2f

© 2000 by Larry Harris;

• in Larry Harris’s Down Deep (New York: The Author, 2000;

• script/rights available from Larry Harris, 22 East 36th Street #4A, New York, New York 10016-3419, U.S.A., telephone (home) 212.645.4834, e-mail Lharris.nyc@verizon.net.

• Cited by playwright via ftp, March 1, 2001; Harris says,

Dramatis Personae

Jessica (f), a striking, elegant, elderly woman, mother of Debra; Debra (f), an attractive woman in her late forties, a stylish city person, only child of Jessica.

Synopsis

“Elegant, elderly Jessica has had a premonition that this is her last day on Earth. She has panicked and summoned her daughter, Debra, to their suburban family house to share a very important secret. Debra arrives to find her mother digging a large hole in the backyard. The two women, who have had a rocky relationship during Jessica’s many marriages and affairs, argue, cajole and amuse each other as they unearth a strange buried treasure—a beautiful bejeweled chandelier. Jessica explains that the extremely valuable jewels were meant to be an inheritance from an unorthodox great aunt. As Debra absorbs the fantastic story, her mother lies in the hole to take her final rest. With her dying breath, Jessica expresses the love for Debra that she was never able to utter before.

Comment

• “Why is Debra’s elderly mom, Jessica, digging a large hole in the backyard? What will come out? Who will go in? And why must it happen tonight?!

• The digging and chandelier need not be literal. In the original New York production, a gap between two raised platforms created the hole. A real chandelier covered with black material sat in the gap until the chandelier was unearthed. One scene, no changes.

• Premiered at INTAR 53, with Blanche Cholet as Jessica and Marcy McGuigan as Debra, under the direction of Blake Lawrence, produced by the Emerging Artists Theatre Company, New York City, November 2000.”

• “Larry Harris has worked in the literary offices of the Guthrie Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and McCarter Theatre. He earned his MFA in dramaturgy from Columbia University. Larry’s full-length, The Kitchen of Heaven, was produced by EAT at NY’s Mint Theatre in 1999. Larry co-wrote and associate produced the PBS documentary series Black and White in Exile. His one-act sex farce 'Answering the Echo' won four awards in the 9th Annual New York City 15-Minute Play Festival, including Honorable Mention for Best Play. This play was the inspiration for Larry’s spec screenplay Trick of the Eye. His other screenplays include Tools of Ignorance (about baseball player-turned-spy Moe Berg) and Collector’s Item (a romance for the aged).”—e-mail from the playwright, June 1, 2004.

• Page mounted March 1, 2001, updated June 17, 1998, September 5, 1999, March 1, 2001, February 8, November 12, 19, 2002, June 26, 2004, April 25, 2005, December 23, 27, 2008, by the site Webmaster.

Themes

backyard, buried treasure, chandelier, family, inheritance, marriage, mother-daughter relationship, mystical, premonition, secrecy, suburbia, womankind.