Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

The curtain rises. Mother (Vinnie Day) and the new maid Annie are setting the breakfast table –

Vinnie:            The cream and sugar go down at this end.

Annie:             I thought in the center, ma’am; everyone could reach them easier.

Vinnie:            Mr. Day sits here. . . . This [napkin ring] is Mr. Day’s.  It’s just like mine – except that it got bent one morning.  And that reminds me – always be sure Mr. Day’s coffee is piping hot.

          When:  Monday, March 10 & Tuesday, March 25 at 7 pm
          Where: Room 9
          What:   LIFE WITH FATHER by LINDSAY & CROUSE
          Who:    UUCPA Thespians
          Why:    To reread the play the Thespians read at their first meeting almost 14 years ago.

The play is based on a series of delightful essays that (the real person) Clarence Day Jr. wrote about his parents.  The time is early in a late 1880’s summer; the place is a brownstone house on Madison Avenue, New York City.  The “theme” of the play is the discovery of the vastly different characters of Father and Mother and of the deep love between them that transcends those differences.  The family is financially well-to-do, so Father obviously understands Wall Street and Finance, but he is totally clueless about family dynamics.  He rants and raves but is helpless against Mother’s combination of her own peculiar logic, a selective memory, and an intuitive knowledge of when to turn on the tears.  The play contains a number of loosely related scenes, many of which could stand alone.  Indeed, the Thespians have presented “Father and the New Church” a couple of times in connection with our Canvass.  Look forward to the scene where Father explains “Women” to Clarence.  My favorite is the scene which follows Mother’s purchase (on a charge account) of a china pug dog.  When Father objects she agrees to return it, but instead exchanges it for a new suit for Clarence.  She explains to Father, “The suit isn’t costing you a penny because Clarence took the pug dog back and got the suit instead,” and, “They can’t charge us for the pug dog because we haven’t got it.”

I could go on until I’d quoted most of the play, but the webmaster would object.  You’ve got to come read it with us.  There are 16 characters, but we can read it comfortably with 8 or 9 readers, so pick your date and let me know (email thespians-info@uucpa.org or call me) or just show up at seven o’clock prompt and take your chances.

Philip Hodge, Chair.