the dreamer examines his pillow

The first scene of John Patrick Shanley’s the dreamer examines his pillow, is a conversation between two lovers, Tommy and Donna, who broke up some time earlier but who are obviously still attracted to each other. Donna is enraged because Tommy, a would-be artist, is now having an affair with her younger sister, but Tommy stretched out on his recliner (which, apart from a refrigerator full of beer, comprises the entire furnishings of his spartan apartment), is seemingly unmoved by her harrangue. In the second scene Donna visits her father, a once successful artist who stopped painting at the death of his wife, whom he had bullied and betrayed despite his professed love for her. Combative and complex (but also very funny) the father sits and drinks and eventually gives in to his daughter’s demand that he force Tommy to marry her or beat him up. Then, in the third and final scene, the father and Tommy confront each other, with results that are sometimes menacing, sometimes antic, as a lively discussion about art and women leads eventually to a sort of tenuous truce — and a grudging recognition of the responsibility that love, in its various guises, imposes. Rusty Owen directs.

Appropriate For Ages: 18 and up

Additional performances added Thursday, December 14th – Saturday , December 16th at 8pm.

Patrons wanting tickets for the November 30th performance should contact David Tawil directly at 917-796-6951