The Apple Family Plays 1: That Hopey Changey Thing
by Richard Nelson
Direction: Richard Nelson
F.I.N.D. #15
Guest Production by The Public Theater, New York (USA)
On four evenings unfolding in real time, we share the living room of the Apples, an American middle-class family in Rhinebeck, a small town in New York State. The family is composed of the four adult siblings Barbara, Marian, Richard and Jane, Jane’s boyfriend Tim and the older Uncle Benjamin. The evenings spotlight four key dates in recent American history separated by roughly a year and show the private developments and entanglements of the family as well as the political hopes and subsequent disillusionment of America’s liberal middle-class.
Richard Nelson (*1950, Chicago) is a director, playwright and librettist. He wrote the librettos for the musicals »Chess« (1988) and »James Joyce’s The Dead« (1999) as well as the screenplay for the film »Hyde Park on Hudson« (2012). His plays include e. g. »Rip van Winkle« (1981), »New England« (1994) and »Goodnight Children Everywhere« (1997). Numerous awards, such as the Tony Award, the Obie Award and the Olivier Award.
Part 1: That Hopey Changey Thing
It is the evening of the midterm elections in 2010, the polling stations will close soon and it becomes increasingly clear that the Republicans will win the majority in Congress. Richard provokes a family argument by criticising the Democrats and the Apples reflect upon the state of their family and talk about their memories and manners
All Dates:
The Apple Family Plays 1: That Hopey Changey Thing
> On 23 April at 7pm and on 26 April at 12pm
The Apple Family Plays 2: Sweet and Sad
> On 23 April at 9.30pm and on 26 April at 2.15pm
The Apple Family Plays 3: Sorry
> On 24 April at 7pm and on 26 April at 6pm
The Apple Family Plays 4: Regular Singing
> On 24 April at 9.30pm and on 26 April at 8.30pm
»The Apple Family Plays« Package Prize
If you buy tickets for all four parts of the series, you only pay for three (25% discount on each ticket).
For technical reasons, in the Webshop it is only possible to book either the »Package 1« with the four consecutive dates on 23 and 24 April, or the »Package 2« with all four dates on 26 April.
>>> Essay about the production in Pearson's Preview: »It will seem like nothing, as it should«. In Conversation with Richard Nelson about »The Apple Family Plays«