JUDEVINE is a parade of lives seen singly and in relation to others: Raymond and Ann, who in their 50 years together have become a mythic vision of love and warmth and cooperation; Grace, whose tortured and lonely life explodes into bitterness, violence, jealousy and finally into madness; teenager Carol Hopper, middle-aged Conrad and the Vietnam vet, Tommy, who all in their isolation withdraw into themselves; Lucy, who has literally lost her mind, and Jerry who loves and protects her; Alice who is “half man, half woman” and who “embraces other people’s lives,” Laura and Edgar, who pass their ordered, proper and restrained days while bursting with repressed passion for each other; and Antoine, the bad talking saint, the irrepressible, effusive, loquacious and ebullient lover of women and all the rest of life. These and many others populate the town and the life of JUDEVINE and are brought to the stage by David, the poet, who is the narrator of this play and who observes all these others from his own isolated yet involved and loving distance.
Through a collection of lyrically beautiful and compelling portraits of ordinary people, by turns raucous and bawdy, delicate and painful, intensely funny, loving and angry, the characters in JUDEVINE reveal to us the survival strength in the oppressed and hurt.
The human parade in this specific and particular and forgotten place becomes the universal human parade itself, and ultimately, JUDEVINE becomes an intensely passionate and caring song of praise celebrating human nature.
Minimal set, properties and costumes. The sound track is created live and on stage by the acting ensemble. Simple lighting.
JUDEVINE: IN THREE ACTS spans two decades, from 1970 to 1990, and is structured so as to provide more of a consistent and traditional through-line, thus it is a bit less experimental in its form than JUDEVINE: IN TWO ACTS which has now been produced in 23 states.
Technical requirements are the same as JUDEVINE: IN TWO ACTS. Ensemble cast should be slightly larger than minimum number for two act version since the three act version has an additional major role for a woman.
- Chicago Sun Times
- The Boston Globe
- Los Angeles Daily News
- Herald News, Passaic, New Jersey
- The Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- Sarasota Herald Tribune, Sarasota, Florida
- Chicago Tribune
- The Juneau Empire, Juneau, Alaska
- Drama-Logue, Bay Area/San Francisco
- The Chicago Reader
- Weekend, Trenton, New Jersey
- The White River Valley Herald, Randolph, Vermont
- Tulsa World, Tulsa, Oklahoma
- The Home News, New Brunswick, New Jersey
- The Princeton Packet, Princeton, New Jersey
- Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Arkansas
- Village View, Los Angeles, California
- The Post Star, Glens Falls, New York
- The Vermont Vanguard Press, Burlington, Vermont
- The Bennington Banner, Bennington, Vermont
- New England Monthly
- The Times Union, Albany, New York
- The Tribune, Oakland, California
- Portland Press Herald, Portland, Maine
- The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento, California
Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier, VT April 20-May 7
Staged reading at The Tiny Theatre, Poultney, VT, Green Mountain College, April 23
Brian Rickel’s One Man Judevine: The Vine Theatre at the Bernardo Winery, Rancho Bernardo, CA, April 13 & 14
Brian Rickel’s One Man Judevine: Grand Central Arts Center, Santa Ana, CA, April 8 & 9
Brian Rickel’s One Man Judevine: CSU Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, May 19 & 20
The Palace Players, The Palace Theater, Hamilton, NY, October 15 & 16
Actor’s Bridge Ensemble Theatre, Nashville, TN, February 5, 6, 7 and 11, 12, 13, 14
Portland Community College Theatre, Portland, OR, Nov 13, 14, 19–11 a.m. matinee, 20, 21, 22–2 p.m. matinee
Middlebury Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, VT, October 16, 17, 18
Paramount Theatre, Rutland, VT, October 10 & 11
Lost Nation Theatre, Montpelier, VT, September 19 – Oct 5
Old Castle Theatre, Bennington, VT, April 12, Benefit Reading, author in cast
William and Mary Theatre, Williamsburg, VA, March 27, 28, 29
Lost Nation Theatre, Montpelier, VT, April 19-May 13
Dorset Playhouse, Dorset, VT, March 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11
Nebraska Repertory Theatre, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, Lincoln, NE, October 5-14
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School performs a one-act version of JUDEVINE at Brookline High School, Brookline, MA, March 2
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School performs a one-act version of JUDEVINE at Brookline High School, Brookline, MA, March 4
Mainstage Theatre of New England College, The Open Door Theatre, Henniker, NH, September 28-October 1
Mainstage Theatre of New England College, The Open Door Theatre, Henniker, NH, June 30-July 3
Connecticut Repertory Theatre (at the University of Connecticut), Storrs, CT, October 28-November 7
Old Castle Theatre Company, Bennington, VT, June 11-20
A Reading of JUDEVINE: A PLAY IN ONE ACT, Strafford Town House, Strafford, VT, June 5
Evergreen Players at Colorado Community Theatre Coalition Festival, Fort Collins, CO, June 27-30
Harvard University, Harvard-Radcliffe Drama Club, Cambridge, MA, April 25-27
The Evergreen Players at Center/Stage, Evergreen, CO, March 15-17
Greendale High School, (High School Version), Greendale, WI, January 4 & 5
Wellesley High School, (excerpts), Wellesley, MA, February 8, 9 & March 3
Kieth Country Day School, Rockford, IL, Oct 28-30
Summer Repertory Theatre, Santa Rosa, CA, June 26-August 1, 1998
Santa Fe Community College, Gainsville, FL, April 2-11, 1998
Wayward Theatre Company, Tulsa, OK, January 1-11, 1998
Yale University, New Haven, CT, October 24-November 2, 1996
Old Castle Theatre Company: Judevine: In Four Acts, Premier, Bennington, VT, October 4-26, 1996
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, January 28 -February 11, 1996
Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Palos Hills, IL, November 1995
ArtRise Theatre, South San Francisco, CA, September 8-23, 1995
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, March 23, 24, 25, 1995
Poet’s Theatre of Cambridge, Boston, MA, December 1-18, 1994
Twice Struck By Lightning Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA, August 5-28, 1994
Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, IL, May 1994
Luther College, Decorah, IA, 11-16 March, 1994
American Inside Theatre, Genesee Depot, WI, March 9-27, 1994
New American Theatre, Rockford, IL, February 1994
Thomas Jefferson High School, (excerpts) Council Bluffs, IA, 22 January & 4 February 1994
New England College, Henniker, NH, November 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 1993
Equity Library Theatre, Chicago, IL, August 4-29 and Septemer 16-October 10 1993
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, November 11-21, 1992
Silk Road Theatre Company, The Matrix Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, March 12-May 3, 1992
Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Little Rock, AR, January 16, 17, 18, 1992
Northeastern State University, Talequah, OK, October 10,11,12, 1991 Icefire Performance Group, Vermont Tour, August 27-September 15, 1991
Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, AK, April 25-May 15, 1991
Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, TX, October 25, 26, 27 and November 1, 1990
The Theatre Project, Brunswick, ME, August 9-25, 1990
American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, CA, January 10-February 24, 1990
The Old Castle Theatre Company, Bennington, VT, October 10-28, 1989
Arena Stage, Washington, DC, May 21, 1989, Staged Reading
Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota, FL, New Plays Festival, May 14, 1989 (two ?shows), Staged Reading
The Western Stage, Salinas, CA, January 13, 14, 15, and February 10 and 11, 1989
Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota, FL, December 11,1988, Staged Reading
The Old Castle Theatre Company, Bennington, VT, April 12-30, 1988
The Gloucester Stage, Gloucester, MA, March 6, 1988, Staged Reading
Vermont Repertory Theatre, Stowe Playhouse, Stowe, VT, October 16 and 17 and in Winooski, VT, October 21 through 24, Held Over, October 28 through 31, 1987
The Western Stage, Salinas, CA, June 11, 12, 19, July 26, and August 14 and 25, 1987
The Performance Place at the Elizabeth Peabody House, Somerville, MA, May 2 and 3, 1987, Staged Reading
The Boston Athenaeum, Boston, MA, April 5, 1987, Staged Reading
Vermont Repertory Theatre, Winooski, VT, Vermont-New Hampshire Tour, September 10-28, 1986
Vermont Repertory Theatre, Winooski, VT, January 24-February 15, 1986
McCarter Theatre, Stage Two, Princeton, New Jersey, January 17-29, 1984
McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, Staged reading, as part of the annual Playwrights-at-McCarter Series, November 3, 1980
THE AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE PRODUCTION OF JUDEVINE WON THE BAY AREA CRITICS’ CIRCLE AWARD FOR BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE OF 1990
Also available, two other Judevine related plays:
JUDEVINE: IN THREE ACTS and TWO FOR CHRISTMAS