The Fat of the Land

The Fat of the Land – set in two houses, side by side in upstate New York on a bucolic autumn hillside that is slowly being turned into subdivisions – is the story of six people and six problems.

In one house lives a married couple who long to have children but who are not physiologically able. They are religious, rural and traditional. Beverly once taught school but has stopped since, “Children don’t really understand Christ.” In the other house live a hip musician, James, and his even hipper artist best friend, Martha. They are weekenders from New York City who just want to make their marks on earth as artists. James is gay. Martha is busy getting ready for the opening of her huge art show of sculptures hewn from lard. They are atheist, urban and very modern. Certainly, they don’t think too much of their townie neighbors. But the neighbors keep coming over, looking to James for the very thing they need in order for them to have a baby. Will the sperm fly? And will the stress of sperm gathering cause a conflagration? A loving transsexual named Claudia and a bright-eyed, narcissistic dancer round out the cast in this thoughtful drama with plenty of comedy about who gets to inherit the earth.