Julia lives alone surrounded by memories of the son she has lost to a faraway war, her dead husband who rooted for that war and Leo, the fantasy man who has kept her dreams alive. Julia's reveries are constantly interrupted by a series of visitors, including the Mailman, a Viet Nam vet and a policeman (all played by a single actor) who try to win Julia's heart and help her leave her dancing priest, her broccoli, and the less than perfect -- Leo -- behind.
Julia Mailman/Soldier/Policeman one man multiple casting Priest/Leo one man multiple casting SET Julia's apartment is really one large room which serves all of her needs for eating, sleeping , observing, serving, learning and always -- dreaming. There should be a sense of things being slightly larger than life rather than trying to reproduce a reality which doesn't exist in this play.
TIME Present
HISTORY 1986 Drama Conservatory, U. of Cincinnati, New Play Festival
1984 Porthouse Theatre, (OH)
"Ms. Perlman's play is a parable of the modern world...and she makes us laugh in the process...." |
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A one act is supposed to be a laser beam, a jolt of insight, a neatly formed work that bring us up short with revelation. Sandy Perlman's Uniform Love does that but in an untraditional manner. In the midst of an absurdist, zany comedy, flashes of insight, like visiting fireflies, sparkle and are gone, only to be replaced by other such lights. Julia is visited in turn, by a mailman, a soldier, a priest, and a policeman. Each is a character out of a nightmare, and each is wildly funny. Each seeks out Julia, who consoles them with whiskey, fingernail polish or a well-aimed rifle shot to the head. Each man brings a wounded sensibility to Julia, for each is a man in search of a redeeming goodness. But their actions bring no goodness, and so they seek the solace of this one crazy who can give them solace. Ms. Perlman's play is a parable of the modern world, as modern as herpes. The playwright not only defines the disease, one worse than herpes, one that keeps us away from each other, she also shows us how pervasive it is. And she makes us laugh in the process.
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For an excerpt of this play click this link UNIFORM LOVE
© 1998 Halem Studios
Last updated September 1998
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