Today I finished a final “first draft” of my new play – “Encore Encore.” The play details the problematic relationship between noted wit Dorothy Parker and her troubled husband Eddie. Eddie was a First World War veteran who suffered greatly from his wartime service and ended up being addicted to morphine and alcohol.
The story juxtaposes the meteoric rise of Dorothy’s career as a drama critic with the dismal decline of her marriage and the means she used to deal with that abrasive dichotomy.
At work, she is the insurmountable wit – always armed and ready with a quip and a comeback.
At home, she is a vulnerable soul – dependent emotionally on a husband who cannot communicate affection.
The play concerns, ultimately, the public personas we create for ourselves to hide the pain we experience in our personal lives – and the danger of being trapped in those personas when it appears they are the only thing in which we can trust and believe.
