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(Full Length) Cicadas chatter feverishly outside as a middle-aged architect startlingly awakes from a crippling night-terror. Returning to his childhood home for the first time in seventeen years when his mother dies, Kip must grapple with the ghosts of his past, his hostile and jobless brother who never managed to move out, and the financially crushing debts now left behind by his parents.
Set in an aging, former steel town in southwestern Pennsylvania, Kip is joined by his noticeably younger girlfriend, Phoebe. She has come to assist with the funeral arrangements, but discovers quickly that she’s in for much more than she bargained for. Kip’s brother, Ethan, won’t enter the bedroom where their mother died; and tensions rise when the sanctity of that space is abruptly invaded.
Secrets buried deep are exposed. Old wounds are made fresh. And sibling rivalries scale new heights with potentially frightening consequences. Just as the town of Monessen has found a way to reinvent itself beyond the long-gone glory days of its Steel City heritage, so must two brothers... whose relationship has rusted, after years of neglect.
You can see photos from the US Premiere of MONESSEN FALLS staged at Good Luck Macbeth Theater of Reno, NV below. The production, directed by Sandra Brunell Neace, starred Aaron Foster as Kip, Bryce Keil as Ethan, and Tashina Habibian as Phoebe.
“An engrossing play, about the intricate dynamics that exist between and among family members, as the past creeps into the present and the future, and old wounds are excised. Will they heal? Burdick's story is Pittsburgh’s story, or a steel town’s story, or a mill town’s story. He does such a wonderful job establishing the past, the way it lingers, right from the get-go. I can see this story happening in so many communities. Missed opportunities, lost dreams, and family issues are universal, and this play explores those themes with grace and energy. ”
- Rachael Carnes, Playwright
“For a family drama, Monessen Falls feels dangerously exciting while Burdick still manages to keep it very real. There is nothing here that smacks of anything ordinary, and the play twists and turns on its own terms. Very well written! ”
- Emma Goldman-Sherman, Playwright
“When parents are dead, when the home of childhood is no longer a home, when there's no sibling bond, maybe even no love, what is really left of family? 'Monessen Falls' by Greg Burdick addresses that question in a powerful play that also forces us to have compassion and understanding for our odd sibling. Where they are right now, how they behave, all their screw-ups is probably a result of their upbringing, their relationship with the other sibling, or some childhood trauma. Complicated, complex characters and startling revelations made this a page-turner.”
- Asher Wyndham, Playwright
“There are some big themes running through this play: loss, memory suppression, sibling rivalry. Burdick uses them to maximum effect. Can you go home again? Should you? What happens when what you remember is not accurate? There are three compelling characters - all flawed and all worthy of love. The play is a journey of coming home and letting go. The revitalization of Monessen Falls underlies the hope for the family. All through the play, the visuals enhance the plot. ”
- Claudia Haas, Playwright
“Family, the Greeks tell us, is a perpetual emotion machine that breeds drama. Greg Burdick adroitly manages both the pulleys and the levers. Yes, there are nightmares of which one fears to speak. Yes, the single location is a room in which the past lives as forcefully as the present, if not more so. Yes, deaths of both parents rest heavily on the two brothers. Yes, nature very much goes about its eternal business, loudly proclaimed in the seventeenth year by mating cicadas. And yes, with the ending of this superb play new beginnings blossom for one and all.”
- Joe Carlson, Playwright
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