Sometimes the truth is a mirage .

By Jon Robin Baitz

Arizona Premiere TABLE OF CONTENTS

About ATC...... 1

Introduction to the Play...... 2 Synopsis...... 2 RELATIONSHIPS Meet the Characters...... 2 ARE HARD- Meet the ...... 3

The Rise of the Memoir...... 3 EARNED Cultural Context: Vietnam, Ronald Reagan and the War on Terror...... 4 THINGS. An Exercise in Opposition: Literary Dualism in ...... 7 – BROOKE, Glossary and References ...... 8 OTHER DESERT CITIES Discussion Questions...... 13

Other Desert Cities Play Guide written and compiled by Katherine Monberg, ATC Literary Associate; Amber Justmann, Literary Intern; and Natasha Smith, Artistic Intern . Discussion questions provided by April Jackson, Education Manager; Amber Tibbitts and Bryanna Patrick, Education Associates .

SUPPORT FOR ATC’S EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY:

APS JPMorgan Chase The Lovell Foundation Arizona Commission on the Arts John and Helen Murphy Foundation The Marshall Foundation Bank of America Foundation National Endowment for the Arts The Maurice and Meta Gross Foundation Blue Cross Blue Shield Arizona Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation City Of Glendale PICOR Charitable Foundation The Stocker Foundation Community Foundation for Southern Arizona Rosemont Copper The William L . and Ruth T . Pendleton Cox Charities Stonewall Foundation Memorial Fund Downtown Tucson Partnership Target Tucson Medical Center Enterprise Holdings Foundation The Boeing Company Tucson Pima Arts Council Ford Motor Company Fund The Donald Pitt Family Foundation Wells Fargo Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation The Johnson Family Foundation, Inc . ABOUT ATC

Arizona Theatre Company is a professional, not-for-profit theatre company . This means all of our artists, administrators and production staff are paid professionals, and the income we receive from ticket sales and contributions goes right back into our budget to create our work, rather than to any particular person as a profit .

Each season, ATC employs hundreds of actors, directors and designers from all over the country to create the work you see on stage . In addition, ATC currently employs about 100 staff members in our production shops and administrative offices in Tucson and Phoenix during our season . Among these people are carpenters, painters, marketing professionals, fundraisers, stage directors, computer specialists, sound and light board operators, tailors, costume designers, box office agents, stage crew – the list is endless – representing an amazing range of talents and skills .

We are also supported by a Board of Trustees, a group of business and community leaders who volunteer their time and expertise to assist the theatre in financial and legal matters, advise in marketing and fundraising, and help represent the theatre in our community .

Roughly 150,000 people attend our shows every year, and several thousand of those people support us with charitable contributions in addition to purchasing their tickets . Businesses large and small, private foundations and the city and state governments also support our work financially .

All of this is in support of our vision and mission: OUR VISION IS TO TOUCH LIVES THROUGH THE POWER OF THEATRE.

Our mission is to create professional theatre that continually strives to reach new levels of artistic excellence and that resonates locally, in the state of Arizona and throughout the nation . In order to fulfill our mission, the theatre produces a broad repertoire ranging from classics to new works, engages artists of the highest caliber, and is committed to assuring access to the broadest spectrum of citizens .

The Temple of Music and Art, the home of ATC shows in downtown Tucson . The Herberger Theater Center, ATC’s performance venue in downtown Phoenix .

1 INTRODUCTION TO THE PLAY

Other Desert Cities By Jon Robin Baitz Directed by James Still Actor Paige Lindsey White, who plays Meet the Wyeths, a seemingly perfect upper middle class family replete with wealth, political influence and Brooke Wyeth in ATC’s production of A-list connections, “living the dream” in Palm Springs . That is, until their daughter arrives home for the Other Desert Cities . holidays to reveal the impending publication of her ‘tell-all’ memoir . In this critically acclaimed Broadway hit, the truth crackles with wit, razor-sharp one-liners, a fierce cast of characters and a storyline that grabs you from the opening scene to the riveting conclusion .

SYNOPSIS Actor Anne Allgood, Christmas, 2004: the first time in six years that the entire Wyeth family has reunited at Lyman and Polly’s who plays Polly lavish home in Palm Springs to celebrate the holiday . Daughter Brooke returns from New York to a Wyeth in ATC’s concerned family, on edge since Brooke’s full-scale mental breakdown . Alleviating some of the pressure on production of Other Desert Cities . Brooke is Aunt Silda who, after falling into financial ruin from years of alcoholism, has moved in with her sister, Polly . Tensions are high this particular Christmas Eve as everyone awaits the revelation of Brooke’s new manuscript . Brooke’s memoir – not the novel that was so eagerly expected – threatens to expose the family’s darkest secrets, and shake the very foundation of their existence . Rife with the weight of secrets, complicated relationships of love and family, and kaleidoscopic slivers of truth, the family pieces together what really happened in their carefully disguised past and why, ultimately, they are who they are . Actor Lawrence Pressman, who plays Lyman Wyeth in ATC’s production of Other MEET THE CHARACTERS Desert Cities .

BROOKE WYETH: A writer, recovering from a recent mental breakdown and attempting to come to terms with the dark side of her childhood in a world of privilege, politics, and wealth; daughter to Polly and Lyman, sister to Trip, and niece to Silda . Actor Will Mobley, LYMAN WYETH: A retired actor and politician known for deep involvement in the GOP and his close who plays Trip friendship with the Reagans; father to Brooke and Trip, and husband to Polly . Wyeth in ATC’s production of Other Desert Cities . POLLY WYETH: A retired screenwriter and socialite with a sharp tongue and forceful personality; Lyman’s wife, mother to Brooke and Trip, and sister to Silda .

TRIP WYETH: A reality television producer; younger brother to Brooke, the son of Lyman and Polly .

SILDA GRAUMAN: A retired screenwriter and recovering alcoholic, cynical and acerbic, who has recently Actor Robin moved in with Polly and Lyman; sister to Polly, and aunt to Brooke and Trip . Moseley, who plays Silda Grauman in ATC’s production of Other Desert Cities .

2 MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

JON ROBIN BAITZ’S plays include The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, The End of the Day, Three Hotels, A Fair Country (Pulitzer Prize finalist 1996), Mizlansky/Zilinsky, Ten Unknowns, and The Paris Letter, as well as a version of Hedda Gabler (Broadway 2001) . He created Brothers & Sisters, an ABC television series which ran for five seasons until 2011 . Other TV work includes the PBS version of Three Hotels, for which he won the Humanitas Award, and episodes of and Alias . He is the author of two screenplays: the film script forThe Substance of Fire (1996) and People I Know (2002) . He is a founding member of Naked Angels Theatre Company, and on the faculties of the MFA programs at The New School for Drama and SUNY Stony Brook/Southampton . Other Desert Cities won the Outer Critics Circle Award in 2011 .

Playwright Jon Robin Baitz.

THE RISE OF THE MEMOIR

As a vehicle of memory, the memoir has long occupied the mysterious and undefined literary space between the hard fact of autobiography and the pure imagination of the novel . Its past is fraught with conflict and contention as it periodically renews the same unanswered questions that have been pondered through the ages, about the nature of truth, reality, and the emotional experience of being human in a tangible world .

The memoir first appeared on the timeline of world literature in 371 A .D . with St . Augustine’s Confessions, which articulated the author’s personal story of seeking a higher meaning in his troubled past . In contrast to the already-established traditions of biography, which recounted observable events, St . Augustine became the first western writer to incorporate an invisible, internal experience into a biographical account, as he described his spiritual journey toward salvation .

The model of the memoir as a mostly religious description of inner spiritual transformation remained until the sixteenth century when the Protestant Reformation sparked a new purpose: to examine the self from what one scholar has deemed the “unholier-than-thou first-person narrative ”. An excerpt from St. Augustine’s Confessions, generally A more secular form of the memoir emerged in the eighteenth century with Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s regarded as the first memoir, from 371 A .D . Confessions, a very different type of “confession” from that of St . Augustine, which shocked Europe’s literary circles with its frank descriptions of the author’s sexual activities . Perhaps more lasting than the scandal of Rousseau’s personal revelations was the new facet that became carved into the identity of the memoir: this new “confession” was about an author’s emotional purge, rather than a story of spiritual redemption or inner transformation .

Meanwhile, eighteenth century America began to produce a brand of adventure memoir that documented escapes from oppression and danger, beginning with settler accounts of being captured by “savages” and a later escape . The 1800s then brought an unprecedented political scope to that concept with the emer- gence of the slave narrative, a new kind of escape memoir that translated broad political and social agendas into personal, humanized experiences . These narratives provided the blueprints for the future Jean-Jacques Rousseau, portrait by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, 1753 . His memoir, Confessions, is regarded memoirs of survivors of the Holocaust and other twentieth century genocides that, for the first time, turned as the first secular example of the genre . the memoir into a tool through which to examine not only the self, but the entire world as well .

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A further boom in American memoir writing came after the Civil Rights Movement, when the marginalization of minority populations shifted to higher political prominence . As the U S. . moved into the Vietnam War era and a distinct liberal counterculture began to emerge, a parallel transition occurred in which the memoir, previously a venue through which to explore the subculture, was firmly adopted by the mainstream as well .

The growing implications and status of the memoir through the past century, as a witness to real life on a global scale, began to result in a powerful sense of outrage when the events of a memoir were revealed as being, perhaps, a deviation from the truth . But what is “truth”? Contemporary defenders of the genre insist that memory is not made entirely of “true” circumstances – that we alter our memories to make better and more cohesive stories – and therefore a memoir is not obligated to reflect only real circumstances in order to be “true ”. Others go further, insisting that a downright false historical account may still reflect a “reality” of the author’s mind, and thus might express an experiential or emotional truth without describing any real, lived events – as great novels can also do .

So what exactly is a memoir, and what should it accomplish? Contemporary literary criticism does not provide us with any singular definition – but perhaps the Wyeths have a definition, or a reality, all their own .

CULTURAL CONTEXT: VIETNAM, RONALD REAGAN AND THE WAR ON TERROR

Other Desert Cities invites us into an American family experience, shaped by the forces that interweave in the American cultural identity, and which continue past the edge of the stage and into our own lives . The ever-present threads of American politics, history, and – dare we say, privilege? – drift in and out of focus as the Wyeths share their story, and reveal to us a tale both poignantly unique and, somehow, pointedly familiar to the American consciousness .

THE VIETNAM WAR AND DOMESTIC TERRORISM

Domestic terrorism has been a constant – and constantly changing – facet of American social politics since the nation’s very inception . Acts of domestic terrorism are defined as the use of unlawful force or violence against persons or property, to further a social or political agenda through intimidation or coercion . Acts of domestic terrorism historically mirror contemporary politics, and coincide with major shifts in American social attitudes and convictions . A Vietnam War Protest Three members of the Ku Klux Klan, The aftermath of the Civil War brought with it a strong upsurge in domestic terrorist activity, particularly in Washington, D C. . on in their traditional white robes and October 21, 1967 . hoods, at a parade in 1922 . in racially-motivated assaults and activities perpetrated by the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan . Domestic terrorism of the late nineteenth century began to reflect disputes in the organized labor movement, and consisted primarily of anarchist attacks against industrial organizations .

The Vietnam War period brought about a dramatic shift in the characteristics and motivations behind domestic terrorist activity . Widespread discontent with U .S . involvement in the war, the anti-establishment movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and racial tensions of the American Civil Rights Movement combined to fuel a wide variety of issues, and spurred the formation of various extremist organizations with vocal and often violent agendas . Most political activist groups of the period have disbanded and disappeared into obscurity, but the brand of violent protest incited by a few notable groups of the period continues to Patty Hearst’s arrest photos from September, 1975, after her impact American politics . capture during a bank heist with members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) .

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Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a radical student organization founded in 1959 and dedicated to the overthrow of the U S. . government, in opposition to the Vietnam War . Though essentially non-violent, the group was held accountable for the planning of a protest-turned-riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which resulted in the prosecution of the Chicago 8 under the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 . Seven of those arrested were major participants in the radical student movement, and the eighth was activist Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party . Ultimately all defendants were acquitted with the exception of Bobby Seale, who was sentenced to four years in prison for contempt of court during the trial .

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) emerged from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and was modeled in part after the ideas of Malcolm X . Founded in Oakland, as a community protection and support organization in 1966, escalating violence in encounters with the police soon began to shift the group’s focus to a more violent agenda . In 1968, the BPP was identified by the FBI as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country,” followed by a period of particularly violent and radical BPP leadership through the early 1970s . Though the Black Panther Party did not officially advocate for the separation of the races, many of its more militant members did, eventually leading to the founding of a splinter group known as the Black Liberation Army which embraced the black separatist movement and violence to achieve political ends .

The Weathermen Underground Organization (WUO), often known simply as Weathermen, was formed after the dissolution of the SDS and the riot at the DNC, and was led by William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Mark Rudd, and Jeff Jones . A 1969 speech by Dohrn declared “war against AmeriKKKa,” and initiated a high-profile bombing campaign that included a restroom at the Pentagon, the Capital barbershop, the ITT building in New York, and the U .S . Senate as targets . Shortly after its formation, the Weathermen organized “The Days of Rage” protest in Chicago, a three-day event designed to “bring the [Vietnam] war home,” that included a march of over 2,000 protesters who left destruction in their wake; at the end of the three days, six Weathermen had been shot and another 287 arrested . Though the group is unofficially credited with more than 25 bombings, the only deaths definitively linked to the WUO are three Weathermen bomb-makers, killed in the explosion of a New York townhouse belonging to the father of a WUO member .

The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a left-wing revolutionary group active for a short but notable period from 1973-1975, during which they committed bank robberies, murders, and other violent acts . The SLA became notorious in 1974 for the high-profile kidnapping of wealthy 19-year-old heiress Patty Hearst from her home in Berkeley, California, intending to use her as bait to negotiate the release of SLA members from prison . When their initial proposal was rejected as impossible, the SLA demanded a ransom in the form of a food distribution program; the Hearst family complied, but the operation halted when violence erupted at one of the distribution points . Over the next seven months, Patty Hearst participated in several bank robberies with the SLA, denounced her family, and began to publicly advocate for the SLA agenda . After her apprehension during a bank heist with other SLA members in September of 1975, her attorneys argued that Hearst suffered from Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological response in which a hostage exhibits loyalty to their abductor, and presented evidence of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse . Hearst was convicted of bank robbery and served two years in prison before her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter, and she was officially pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001 . Many other members of the SLA were identified, charged and imprisoned, and the group dissolved into inaction .

THE REAGAN ERA: 1980S AMERICA

The 1980s introduced the U S. . and the Wyeths to the political and world view of actor-turned-politi- cian Ronald Reagan, who left the golden world of film and television to become a leader of the Republican Party as Governor of California and then as President of the . Reagan’s right-wing social and economic platform advocated supply-side economics, declared a War on Drugs, and supported worldwide anti-communist agendas . He was a supporter of free trade and laissez-faire economics, believing in the “trickle-down” effects of lowering taxes to stimulate the economy, which forced him to borrow heavily in order to cover growing deficits in the federal budget and drastically President Ronald Reagan takes the oath of office on increasing the national debt . Reagan also had a lasting impact on the social fabric of the U .S . through January 20, 1981 to become President of the United States strong opposition to socialized, universal, and publicly funded healthcare; initiatives to promote as his wife, Nancy, looks on . Photo by AP . increased civil rights to minorities; and a pro-life agenda .

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Reagan and his family lived an exceptionally public life with his movie star popularity, great personal wealth, and high-profile marriage to actress Nancy Davis; a mirror image of the Wyeths’ own journey from Hollywood to the political arena . Also like the family onstage, the next generation of the Reagan family embodied a slight shift in their political ideals from those of their parents . Like Brooke Wyeth, three of Ronald Reagan’s four children disclosed firsthand accounts of their famous father in personal memoirs during the genre’s burst in popularity in the decades following the Civil Rights Movement that brought the memoir, once a venue through which to explore the voices of the subculture, firmly into mainstream literature . The shift toward liberalism embodied by the rise of the memoir flashes in other aspects of the contemporary Wyeth experience: the hook of reality television that Trip Wyeth has built a career on; Brooke’s insistence on independence and personal accountability; and in the voice of Aunt Silda, muffled since her long-ago stint as a movie writer, that emerges with a sense of clarity for the first time in decades .

THE WAR ON TERROR

There is a long history of tension in the Middle East that leads to the contemporary politics referenced in Other Desert Cities . After the 1991 Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm, in which the U S. . led a U N. -authorized. coalition of 34 nations against Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations ordered Iraq to destroy its chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; inspections ceased, but uncertainty remained . Ten years later, the Middle East was still in a state of turmoil . Al-Qaeda, an international Islamic terrorist organization, perpetrated a large-scale attack of the U .S . on September 11, 2001, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 civilians . President George W . Bush presented an ultimatum to the Taliban, the governing body in Afghanistan, demanding that they turn over al-Qaeda leaders . At their refusal, America entered into Saddam Hussein, during the Iran-Iraq war in the ongoing Afghan civil war by joining forces with the United Kingdom and Afghan forces to overthrow the Taliban, thus the 1980s . beginning U S. . involvement in the War in Afghanistan . In 2002, hoping to prove a link between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s brutal Iraqi regime, a Pentagon team concluded that Iraq possessed hidden weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) . Their erroneous intelligence led President Bush to declare the Iraq War with a March 2003 invasion of Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, which fell within weeks .

By May 1, 2003, Bush declared the mission accomplished, but insurgent attacks soon led to mounting death tolls among U S. . troops and Iraqi civilians, caused primarily by roadside explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombers . While U .S . military forces attempted to organize a democratic Iraqi government, discontent was rampant in competing factions of the population . Anti-American sentiment grew to a frenzy in April 2004, when it was revealed that U S. . troops had been abusing and humiliating prisoners of war at Abu Ghraib . Though Bush’s administration denied allega- tions of widespread abuse, an increasing use of torture was revealed as an element of the military strategy . Nouri Al-Maliki, the current Prime Minister of Iraq, who assumed office in 2006 . Popular support for the war decreased rapidly in America and abroad . Critique reached a fever pitch over the continued absence of weapons of mass destruction and the release of the 9/11 Commission, which concluded that Saddam Hussein was not implicated in the U S. . attacks . Public opinion began to blame U S. . economic interests, coupled with the desire to topple Hussein’s regime, as the true roots of the conflict . However, with Iraq on the brink of a civil war, military leaders and the presidential administration were determined to finish what they had started . Iraq held successful elections, first for an interim government in 2005 and then a permanent government in 2006, installing Nouri Al-Maliki as prime minister . Initially optimistic about the new government’s ability to handle further insurgent attacks, Al-Maliki consented to continuing U S. . military presence given the instability of the situation, though he did initiate negotiations to establish a firm timeline for the withdrawal of U S. . troops .

President Bush increased the U S. . military presence in Iraq as incoming presidential candidates presented their plans for addressing the issue . The 2008 election of Barack Obama signaled the beginning of the end of the Iraq War . In Osama bin Laden being interviewed by journalist February 2009, President Obama announced the plan to begin troop withdrawal, with a promised conclusion by the Hamid Mir, sometime in 1997-1998 . end of 2011 . With the transition of Iraqi security to the local government underway, Obama turned to another

6 AN EXERCISE IN OPPOSITION: LITERARY DUALISM IN OTHER DESERT CITIES mission: the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the leading figure of al-Qaeda . In May of 2011, bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan . Withdrawal continued, and the last U S. . troops were removed from Iraq on December 18, 2011 – eight years and nine months after the war began . The U S. . is currently engaged in deliberations with Afghan leaders to end its military presence in Afghanistan, where the Taliban remains a threat to security .

Jon Robin Baitz sets up a series of subtle philosophical contradictions within the words of Other Desert Cities that intentionally put opposing principles in tension with one another . Not only do these dualisms spark the dramatic conflict of the play, but they also allow us a philosophical point of access into the workings of the text . Through these oppositions, we can delve deeper into the intricate layers of images, politics, and relationships that identify Other Desert Cities as a shining contemporary example of the “great American drama ”.

A DESERT CHRISTMAS

The stereotypical associations of “the Christmas season” paint December as the time of year when The Sonoran Desert in Arizona, at the Agua Fria National families come together in front of a backdrop of snow-blanketed landscapes, crackling fires, and lavish Monument . Photo by the Bureau of Land Management . feasts . The Wyeths’ desert Christmas immediately contradicts that image, replacing the white winter wonderland with the brown, sparse desert of the American west . Their deviation from the stereotypical Christmas continues with Polly’s insistence on having dinner at the Palm Springs Country Club, taking what is usually designated as family time into the realm of the public, and emphasizing their history as public figures while separating them from the stereotypical images of “normal” holiday traditions . Playwright Jon Robin Baitz rewrites the “ideal” Christmas to give us an immediate window into the Wyeth family whose self-imposed distance, both geographically and behaviorally, creates a unique set of circumstances that support our understanding of the Wyeths’ soon-to-be-revealed deviations from “normal” family behaviors .

TWO AMERICAS: EAST MEETS WEST

Another set of images that Baitz places in contradiction are the west coast conservativism of Polly and Lyman, and the east coast liberalism that Brooke brings into their home . Brooke is on a quest for a greater familial truth in her tell-all memoir, a truth that Polly and Lyman have spent their lives attempting to smooth over in order to maintain their own image as the perfect Reagan-esque public figures . They even go so far as to physically isolate themselves from the important people of their past in order to keep their secrets out of the public eye . Brooke and her parents each assume that their own approach to the family secret – to hide, or to expose – is the best course of action, though the actions are in direct opposition . Intentionally isolated, Lyman and Polly have neglected to realize how much Brooke has changed since her conservative upbringing, while Brooke fails to realize that her parents may have a wider perspective than simply to protect themselves and their own image .

THE OTHER DESERT CITIES

Baitz’s carefully crafted dialogue, alongside the philosophical opposition between Brooke and her parents, also facilitates a wider conversation about contradictory generational and world politics that stretches into the present . Polly and Lyman are representatives of the conservative elite of the American political past: wealthy, privileged, and influential, emphasized by their alignment with Ron and Nancy Reagan and the real-world politics associated with them . Brooke, who grew up in the midst of the counterculture that emerged after the Civil Rights Movement and during the Vietnam War era – a counterculture sparked by dissatisfaction with the world circumstances created by the politics of her parents’ generation – has willingly stepped away from that privileged lifestyle to embrace a new, different personal ideal . The layers of political commentary woven into the text then become representative of contemporary political debate, brought full circle by involvement in “another war” – Iraq, rather than Vietnam – that some critics feared would threaten to repeat the past…a past that had a significant effect on the world as a whole, and on the Wyeth family in particular, though the events of this new war happen in a different desert than the one which they inhabit . 7 GLOSSARY AND REFERENCES

“THE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL IN THE HAGUE”: A reference to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals for war crimes; the Hague is one of the major hosting cities of the United Nations, located in the Netherlands .

“THAT THING WHERE WINTER...MAKES YOU BLUE”: A reference to Seasonal Affective Disorder, a mood disorder that causes symptoms of depression in the winter; usually treated with a combination of light therapy and antidepressants .

“TRUST BUT VERIFY”: Famous phrase adopted by U .S . president Ronald Reagan from a Russian proverb that he used in reference to American relations with the Soviet Union . The International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands . ADD: A common abbreviation for Attention Deficit Disorder; symptoms include problems with attention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsive behavior .

AL-QAEDA: A global, militant Islamic organization founded by Osama bin Laden, which claimed responsibility for the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States .

AMISH: A subgroup of the Mennonite churches; a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships known for simple living, plain dress, and a reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology .

ANTABUSE: A trade name for the drug disulfiram, used to support the treatment of chronic alcoholism by creating an acute sensitivity to alcohol, causing an unpleasant reaction to its consumption . Illustration of Attila the Hun from the Nuremberg ANTHRAX: An often deadly bacterial disease that has been used as a weapon of biological warfare; there were Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel, 1493 . several anthrax attacks in the U S. . following September 11th in which letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic U S. . Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others .

ATTILA THE HUN: Ruler of the Hunnic Empire during the 5th century who conquered the Balkans; one of the most fearsome enemies of the Roman Empire .

BAGHDAD: The capital city of Iraq, located along the Tigris River, which has suffered severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War .

BARRY GOLDWATER: U S. . Senator from Arizona and the Republican candidate in the 1964 presidential election, affectionately known as “Mr . Conservative,” and often credited with sparking the resurgence of the American The Beach Boys performing their song “I Get conservative movement in the 1960s . Around” on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 .

BEACH BOYS: An American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961 .

BEL AIR: An affluent neighborhood in Westside , California; the home of many motion picture stars and of President Ronald Reagan .

BETSY BLOOMINGDALE: The American socialite and philanthropist whose marriage to Alfred S . Bloomingdale, heir to the department store chain, was the basis of the novel An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne, noted for its behind-the-scenes depiction of the Hollywood rich and famous .

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BOHEMIAN GROVE: A large campground in Monte Rio, California, owned by the Bohemian Club, a private San Francisco-based men’s art club; the host of a two-week encampment of some of the most powerful men in the world every year in mid-July .

BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB: A U S. . mail-order book club that offers a new book for sale to its members each month .

BROOKS BROTHERS: An upscale men’s clothing chain; the oldest men’s clothier chain in the U S. ,. founded in 1818, and headquartered on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City .

BROWN DERBY: A chain of restaurants whose original building was shaped like a brown derby hat; popular for its The original Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles, California . proximity to Hollywood movie studios and its famous clientele .

BRYN MAWR: A women’s liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania; Polly Wyeth’s alma mater .

CERTITUDE: Certainty .

CHASEN’S: A restaurant and Hollywood hotspot that was in business from 1937-1995; most well-known for being the location where Ronald Reagan proposed to his wife, Nancy .

CHET HUNTLEY: Newscaster on American television, perhaps best known for co-anchoring NBC’s evening news Colin Powell, former U .S . Secretary of State program The Huntley-Brinkley Report from 1956-1970 . under President George W . Bush, in 2005 . CHINK: An ethnic slur referring to a Chinese person .

COLIN POWELL: A profound figure in American politics that served as Secretary of State from 2001-2005 under George W . Bush; renowned as an orator, he lost credibility and resigned after presenting faulty information to the U N. . regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq .

DEEP THROAT: The secret informant, later identified as Mark Felt, who provided information about the Nixon Administration’s involvement in the Watergate scandal to The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein; the Watergate scandal eventually led to Richard Nixon’s resignation and the downfall of the Nixon Administration . Publicity photo of Dinah Shore, 1951 . DESERT FOLLIES: Reference to The Fabulous Palm Spring Follies, a dance and musical revue in the style of the Ziegfeld Follies which features performers fifty-five years of age or older and performs annually from November to May at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California .

DESERT HOT SPRINGS: A city in Riverside County, California, sometimes referred to as DHS or the Desert Empire .

DICKENS: Reference to Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic, known for creating some of literature’s most memorable fictional characters and generally regarded as one of the greatest Victorian novelists .

DINAH SHORE: An American performer and television personality who achieved fame as a recording artist in the Big Band era of the 1940s and 1950s, and in later years as the hostess of a number of television variety shows for Chevrolet .

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DON RUMSFELD: Two-time U .S . Secretary of Defense under Presidents Gerald Ford and George W . Bush; instrumental in planning the U S. . response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, which included two wars, he gradually lost political support and resigned in 2006 .

DOROTHY DALE: A performer with The Fabulous Palm Spring Follies; originally famous for dancing at the Empire Room in Chicago, she holds the record for the “Oldest ‘Still Performing’ Showgirl in the World ”.

ELDORADO CONVERTIBLE: A two-door personal luxury car; a top-of-the line Cadillac in the 1950s .

ELIE WIESEL: A prisoner of Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, famous for writing his first-hand Actor Gary Cooper in a publicity photo for the filmMeet John Doe (1941) . account of imprisonment in his book, Night; the 1986 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to combat racism, repression, and violence .

ENCINO: An affluent neighborhood in the San Fernando region of Los Angeles, noted for a particularly high white population in comparison to the rest of the city .

EPHEMERA: A transitory written or printed matter not intended for preservation .

ESKIMO: Traditional English term for the indigenous peoples of the region from Eastern Siberia and across Alaska, Canada, and Greenland; considered a pejorative term in many areas . President George W. Bush speaking at a FARKAKTE: A Yiddish word commonly used to mean “crazy,” “screwed up,” or “gone bad ”. campaign rally in 2004 .

FRATRICIDE: The act of a person killing their own brother .

GARY COOPER: Classic Hollywood actor, perhaps best known for his starring roles in Mr . Deeds Goes to Town and Sergeant York; the recipient of two Academy Awards for Best Actor out of five total nominations .

GEORGE BUSH: George H W. . Bush served as Republican President of the United States from 1989-1993; his son George W . Bush, also a Republican, was President from 2001-2009 .

GIVENCHY: A French luxury clothing brand .

GOP: An acronym for “Grand Old Party,” referring to the Republican Party, one of the two major political parties in the United States .

GOURMET: A U S. . monthly magazine devoted to food and wine, published from 1941-2009; the brand continues to be used for book and television programming, and online recipe forums .

GOY: Standard Hebrew biblical term for “nation,” often used to refer to a non-Jewish person .

HAGIOGRAPHER: A biographer of saints and ecclesiastical leaders .

HELLS ANGELS: A worldwide motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles; considered to be an organized crime syndicate by the U S. . Department of Justice .

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HOOFERS: A type of tap dancer who dances “closer to the floor,” with emphasis on footwork and without much arm or body movement; derived from the type of dancing demonstrated by slaves in America, also known as “rhythm tap ”.

HUGH HEFNER: The chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, advanced in age but still heavily involved in the porn industry .

INDENTURED SERVITUDE: A form of debt bondage prevalent in the American colonial years in which a person agreed to work for a fixed number of years in exchange for passage to the colonies; though it was a legal agreement, Hugh Hefner in November 2010 . Photo by maltreatment and exploitation was common . Glenn Francis, www .PacificProDigital com. .

INDIO: A city in Riverside County, California, in the Colorado Desert region; the Spanish word for “Indian ”.

JACARANDA TREES: A genus of flowering plant native to tropical and subtropical regions, mostly Central and South America, Cuba, Hispaniola, and the Bahamas .

KABUL: The capital and largest city in Afghanistan .

KING TUT: Reference to Tutankhamun, an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty who ruled from 1332-1323 BCE .

KNOPF: A New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A . Knopf, Sr ,. in 1915 and acquired by Random House in 1960 . The golden funeral mask of King Tutankhamun. Photo courtesy of Egypt Archive . LAUREL CANYON: A neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of Los Angeles, California; a nexus of counterculture activity in the 1960s when it was home to many local rock musicians .

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: The research library of the United States Congress and the unofficial national library of the U S. .; located in Washington D C. . and the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, it is one of the two largest libraries in the world and the oldest federal cultural institution in the country .

LIFE MAGAZINE: An American humor and general interest magazine published weekly until 1972; in intermittent special issues until 1978; monthly until 2000; and then as a weekly newspaper supplement from Time Inc . until 2007 .

LOEHMANN’S: A discount department store .

LORD BYRON: An aristocratic 18th century English romantic poet and writer of the narrative poem, Don Juan .

LORD OF THE RINGS: An epic fantasy novel written by J R. R. . Tolkien between 1937 and 1949; has experienced a recent surge in popularity due in part to its massively successful film adaptations in the early 2000s .

MERETRICIOUS: Appearing attractive, but lacking in real value or integrity .

MORAL RECTITUDE: The quality of being honest and morally correct .

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MRS. ANNENBERG: Referring to Leonore Annenberg, the wife of U K. . ambassador Walter Annenberg; the pair were major supporters of Ronald Reagan in his 1980 presidential campaign .

MS. DIDION: Referring to American author Joan Didion, most well known for her book The Year of Magical Thinking which described the author’s year following the death of her husband, and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in the Biography/Autobiography category .

NIHILISM: The belief that traditional morals, ideas, beliefs, or the political and social institutions of a society have no worth or value . Leonore and Walter Annenberg greeting President Ronald Reagan at his birthday OCHER: An earthy red or yellow color; often impure iron ore that is used as a pigment . celebration in 1981 .

OJAI: A city in California, northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara, known for its hotels and tourism services, recreation, spiritual retreats, a strong local organic culture, and an abundance of small businesses .

OPRAH: Reference to The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated television talk show in history, hosted by Oprah Winfrey .

PALEOLITHIC: Of or relating to the earliest period of the Stone Age, when rough tools and weapons were made of stone .

PALM CANYON DRIVE: A street in Palm Springs lined with luxury shopping, dining, and lodging; comparable to Rodeo Publicity photo of Rock Hudson, 1955 . Drive in Beverly Hills or Chicago’s Michigan Avenue .

PARAMOUNT, MGM, WARNER: Prominent American film production companies .

PASADENA: One of the primary cultural centers in the San Gabriel Valley; a city in Los Angeles, California .

PAT BUCKLEY: A wildly active socialite who dedicated much of her time fundraising for Vietnam War veterans and medical research; known as “the mother of the conservative movement,” she is often referenced as the ideal upper- class Republican woman .

PATCHOULI: An herb in the mint family .

PAUL BOWLES: An American author most notable for his publication, The Sheltering Sky, a novel of post-colonial alienation and existential despair .

PIQUANT: Interesting and exciting; having a pleasant, spicy taste .

PISMO BEACH: A beach city on the Central Coast of California .

PUCCI: A high-end Italian fashion designer .

RANGOON: A city and historic port of Myanmar, on the Rangoon (Yangon) River .

ROCK HUDSON: A noted leading man in mid-20th century films including Pillow Talk, All That Heaven Allows, and Send Me No Flowers; he became one of the first major celebrities to die of complications from AIDS in 1985 .

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RON AND NANCY: Reference to Ronald Reagan, the actor-turned-politician 40th President of the United States and his wife Nancy .

SAG HARBOR: A village in the state of New York, in the towns of East Hampton and Southampton .

SAKS (FIFTH AVENUE): An upscale American department store .

SINATRA: Reference to Frank Sinatra, acclaimed for musical hits such as Come Fly With Me, That’s Life, and Love and Marriage, and his acting roles in The Tender Trap and Pal Joey . Frank Sinatra at Liederkranz Hall, New York, SRI LANKA: An island country in the northern Indian Ocean off the southern coast of the Indian Subcontinent 1947 . Photo by William P . Gottlieb . in South Asia; known as Ceylon until 1972, now officially known as The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka .

STALIN: Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953 .

TANGIER: A city in northern Morocco, located on the North African Coast where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar .

TEMPURPEDIC: A memory foam mattress, manufactured by the Tempur-Pedic company .

THE ACTORS HOME: An assisted-living community in the Hollywood Hills for retired entertainers; officially known Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the as the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, the Actors Home is supported by the the Actors Fund, Central Committee of the Communist Party a national nonprofit organization that aids performers and entertainment professionals . of the Soviet Union .

THE NEW YORKER: An American magazine, published since 1925, which consists of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry .

TOTIE FIELDS: A heavy-set American performer who rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, leading the way for female comediennes through her uninhibited and self-referential humor .

TRAVEL AND LEISURE: Travel magazine based in New York City and published 12 times annually by Time Inc .

TURNER CHANNEL: Referring to the Turner Classic Movies cable television station, which primarily screens older, nostalgic films . American comedienne Totie Fields.

UMBER: A dark yellow-brown color .

WASPIFIED: An informal term, WASP describes White Anglo-Saxon Protestants and generally refers to the social and financial elite, whose connections afford a certain amount of privilege; can be used as a derogatory term .

XANAX: Medication used to treat anxiety .

ZAPOTEC INDIAN: Politically incorrect reference to the indigenous people of Mexico .

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1 . Early in the play, Brooke tells her brother that she is always “so tempted just to keep on driving” to “Other Desert Cities” instead of turning off for Palm Springs, where their parents live . What do you think Brooke envisions awaiting her in those other cities? A simple escape from overbearing family members and secrets, or something more tangible?

2 . Why did the playwright choose the title Other Desert Cities? How does the metaphorical image of an isolated desert relate to these characters?

3 . How does the idea of the “other” come into play in the Wyeth family history?

4 . The characters in the Wyeth family are fictional friends of the Reagans but also share many similarities with them, particularly Lyman Wyeth and Ronald Reagan, who are both actors-turned-politicians . Why are the American political system and entertainment industry so often intertwined?

5 . Brooke writes Love & Mercy: A Memoir despite family protestations . Do you agree with her decision to honor her writing, knowing that it would cause family tension? Does an artist’s obligation to create extend beyond their obligations to their loved ones?

6 . How do members of the Wyeth family exhibit love and mercy toward one another? Do you think love or mercy were what motivated them to keep secrets from each other – or to finally reveal them?

7 . Do you believe there was a true reconciliation in the Wyeth family once the family secret has been explained from both sides? Is there a traditional happy ending?

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