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Other Desert Cities ARENA’S PAGE STUDY GUIDE COntentS OTHER DESERT CITIES The Play Now playing in the Fichandler Meet the Playwright April 26 – May 26, 2013 Meet the Wyeths Written by Jon Robin Baitz Directed by Kyle Donnelly Welcome to Palm Springs! Key Historical Background Memoir: Writing from Memories Three Big Questions The PlaY Lyman and Polly Wyeth met working in the glamor of Hollywood, but when their close friends Ronald and Nancy Reagan became leaders of “ the Republican Party, the Wyeths You have so much of entered politics. They became your mother in you. You one of the best known Republican don’t like any weakness, couples in California. especially in yourself.” –Lyman Like many elite Hollywood and political families, the Wyeths gather in Palm Springs, California for Christmas. Brooke does not see eye to eye with her conservative parents, and has refused to come home for six years. Now it’s Christmas 2004, and Brooke is back, but with a secret. She has written a memoir (see article) about her famous family. In it she details one of the most painful episodes of their past. Over two nights of bickering and battling, truths are revealed that rock the Wyeth family. How does a person balance personal values with family loyalty? Who decides what should be public information and what should be private? How can a family recover from even the hardest of battles? l Major support for this program is provided by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation. Funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Other Desert Cities is sponsored by Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in and the generous volunteer part by the National Endowment for the Arts. usher corps of Arena Stage MEET THE MEET THE WYETHS Trip WYeth: Son PLAYWRIGHT: “Nobody who takes pleasure as seriously as I do could Jon Robin Baitz possibly be happy.” “I strive to find Baitz on Trip: “His overarching dogma consists of ‘Let it the exact point go; it’s California; it’s all fine.’” in a narrative The youngest in the family, Trip produc- where the es the reality series Jury of Your Peers. His go-with-the-flow attitude often has personal and the him mediating conflict between his par- political intersect ents and sister. perfectly, LYman WYeth: Dad BROOke WYeth: Daughter because I find the two things “I’m not easily bruised.” “Is there a blanket ban on completely inseparable.” Baitz on Lyman: “Like many writing about my life if it fathers he loves his chil- involves anyone else?” –Jon Robin Baitz dren in ways that sometimes Baitz on Brooke: She has, “… shock even him.” exiled herself from the West much like I on Robin “Robbie” Baitz was Once famous for death scenes in 1950s did; moved out to Sag Harbor much as born in Los Angeles, California. J western movies, Lyman traded in acting I did; has written professionally, been He spent years of his childhood in for politics in the 1980s. He became an a novelist,and has dried up, much as I South Africa and Brazil because ambassador for the U.S. government occasionally have.” of his father’s work with the under President Ronald Reagan. Diplo- Brooke worked as a travel magazine Carnation Company. His time in matic and sturdy, Lyman often acts as writer and novelist, but fell into a deep California and abroad play a large the mediator between Polly and Brooke. depression. Now divorced and writing role in his plays. In an interview again, Brooke is home to unveil the book POllY WYeth: Mom with Bomb magazine, he said, she has written about her family. “South Africa made me who I am. “The only way to get some- Being party to, not mere witness one to not be an invalid is to SilDA GraUman: Aunt to, pure and simple state-run treat them as such.” “Honey, I deserve a Nobel racism… is the genesis for my Baitz on Polly: “She’s a Peace Prize for loving you as interest in how systems operate. realist, and she’s fiercely dedicated to much as I do.” I write about that as much as I her family’s survival.” Baitz on Silda: “She is as much do parents and children; they’re Born to a Jewish family in Texas, Polly a liberal as Polly is a conservative, and exactly the same thing.” was a Hollywood TV writer before joining they have a volatile relationship but one Lyman in the political limelight. With con- that’s built out of love.” After graduating from high school, servative first lady Nancy Reagan as a Once the co-writer of a TV series with Baitz worked as a producer’s guide, Polly works to maintain a respect- her sister Polly, Silda is living with the assistant and bookstore clerk able public image for her family. family while battling alcoholism. She is while diving into writing. At 26, often on Brooke’s side. l his second play debuted off- dogma – an established belief or principle Broadway and since then he has been nominated for Tony, Outer ACTIVITY What is something that you disagree with your parents about? Critics Circle and Drama Desk Write a monologue explaining your side of the issue to your parents. Then, Awards. His plays include The Film write a second monologue from the perspective of one of your parents Society, The Substance of Fire, The explaining their side of the issue. End of the Day, and Three Hotels. In 1996, his play My Fair Country was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He teaches at The New School PALM SpRINGS ON THE FICHANDLER STAGE for Drama, where he is artistic he large rock formations director of the BFA division. A home in Palm Springs. Tin Palm Springs have inspired creative home Baitz is also known for his work in film and television. He created designs. Some have been the TV drama Brothers and Sisters, built around boulders! Set which ran for five seasons on designer Kate Edmunds ABC. Baitz has said that Other places a boulder on one Desert Cities explores what he corner of the set in homage wishes he could have explored on that series. to these designs. What could the boulder symbolize? Lyman: Palm Springs should be a refuge, where she wants to KEY HISTORICAL BACKGROUND come when life in New York gets unbearable for her. Silda: Palm Springs isn’t a refuge; it’s King Tut’s tomb. The Ronald Reagan earned his first Hollywood whole town is filled with mummies with tans. contract in 1937. He acted in 53 films over the next 20 years. After two terms as governor of Welcome to California, he was elected President of the United States in 1981. Known for his conservative values, he served two terms. Reagan increased funding for defense while PALM cutting taxes for citizens. In his farewell speech, Reagan said, “Man is not free unless SpRINGS government is limited.” Nancy Davis Reagan acted both on Broadway The Setting and in Hollywood before marrying Tucked into the western Ronald Reagan in 1952. As first edge of the Colorado lady, she spoke out against drug Desert at the base of the abuse in youth, supported war San Jacinto Mountains, veteran rehabilitation and Palm Springs is a village- oversaw the PBS arts series In like community of tall Performance at the White House. red rocks, dry waving palm trees, days of hot Declared in 1955, the sun and nights of cool Vietnam War was desert air. fought between North Vietnam and the U.S.-backed South The History Vietnam. The north More than 2,000 years ago, wanted to unite the country under a what is now Palm Springs was communist government, which the US home to the Agua Caliente band did not support. The war lasted over 19 of the Cahuilla Indians. In the years. Many American soldiers were drafted Palm Springs Country Club. late 1800s government surveys and over 58,000 U.S. soldiers died. The war noted the land’s mineral-rich polarized Americans with people strongly for waters and expansive land. By The Hotel LaFonda, 1950’s. or against it. the 1930s Hollywood A-listers and business tycoons were Brooke was in New York flocking to the city’s first hotels. City when two hijacked planes crashed into the A key site for military operations World Trade Center on during WWII, Palm Springs went Sept. 11, 2001. A third on to become one of California’s plane hit the Pentagon in most-populated tourist Washington, D.C. destinations in the post-war economic boom. Today, stars One week after the attacks, President George like Leonardo DiCaprio, Dakota W. Bush declared a war on the militant Islamic Fanning, and Gwen Stefani groups deemed responsible for the attacks. vacation in Palm Springs. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in search of al-Quaeda supporters and operatives. In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq to The Sights remove the country’s In addition to hotels president Saddam and spas, many with Hussein and search for natural hot springs, nuclear weapons. At the Palm Springs is home opening of the play, both to a variety of arts and The 26-ft. sculpture wars are being waged. outdoor entertainment. of Marilyn Monroe in Palm Springs. Palm Springs has its own Walk of Stars with ACTIVITY In the play, the 9/11 star plaques in the attacks spark debate between sidewalk for stars like people with different political Elizabeth Taylor and views. Choose five adults in your life and Bob Hope. ask them where they were on 9/11 and how they feel about the war today.
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