Homage to an American in Paris
By Ian Wild
Age range
16 +
Cast size
15 +
Approx. running time
60 – 90 mins
Gender breakdown
Male: 7+
Female: 8+
Also: The gender of many characters is ‘open’ and can be played by either male or female.
Female: 8+
Also: The gender of many characters is ‘open’ and can be played by either male or female.
Setting
American Mid-West 1930’s. Also Chicago. Paris. A Surrealist Atlantic.
Note
A surreal full-length comedy and love story for a large ensemble.
First performance
Drama Course, Kinsale College of Further Education 2011.
Synopsis
The play - a warm-hearted comedy narrated by Salvador Dali’s moustache – follows Billy, a humble pea picker, in his attempt to escape the dust bowl of 1930’s America by becoming a famous artist. Ostracised by his impoverished family, Billy dreams of kissing his sweetheart on top of the Eiffel tower with a million dollars in his hand. But nobody told him about the banjo-playing albatrosses, love-sick Chicago gangsters, talking tomatoes and…er…fish.
Homage to An American in Paris is a surrealist paean to a Hollywood film that was set to George Gershwin’s orchestral masterpiece. It’s a good introduction to Gershwin’s music and the era of the late 1920’s, and explores, amongst other things: Hollywood in its heyday, the outrageousness of Modern Art, the corruption of Prohibition and the poverty of farmers in America after the Wall Street Crash.
This surreal comedy offers huge possibilities for an imaginative director with a visual flair. It offers fantastically unique roles and scope for theatricality as your budget and creativity allows.
Homage to An American in Paris is a surrealist paean to a Hollywood film that was set to George Gershwin’s orchestral masterpiece. It’s a good introduction to Gershwin’s music and the era of the late 1920’s, and explores, amongst other things: Hollywood in its heyday, the outrageousness of Modern Art, the corruption of Prohibition and the poverty of farmers in America after the Wall Street Crash.
This surreal comedy offers huge possibilities for an imaginative director with a visual flair. It offers fantastically unique roles and scope for theatricality as your budget and creativity allows.