THE STORY: Philip (known in the family as “Uncle Lumpy") is not a happy man: His wife has divorced him; he has no job; and he needs to talk to someone—so he goes to the suburban home of his older brother, Lou. Lou is off on a business trip but his wife, Marion, is at home, and invites Philip to stay for brunch, then dinner, then the night. As the two discuss the absent Lou it is soon evident that they are both unhappy and unfulfilled and that Lou (who is apparently a thoroughly nasty, selfish man) is responsible for much of their misery. In a series of blackouts we see Philip growing ever closer to Marion and his niece Jennifer (who is spoken to but never seen) until, eventually, he has replaced his brother in the household—and the bedroom. But then Marion announces that Lou is coming home and Philip must go, which reluctantly he agrees to do, with a promise to return on Jennifer’s birthday. However, when he comes back, he finds a changed Marion who is (a) unwilling to resume their relationship and (b) pregnant. Philip is shattered by this news, but Marion, secure in the knowledge that this will be her child, and not Lou’s, is buoyant. In the final essence she too has used “Uncle Lumpy” for her own purposes, and as he trudges sadly off, we are aware that, for him, this unhappy pattern will probably never change.
A very funny and yet subtly disturbing play which uses deft theatricality to illuminate the plight of an embittered wife and her equally unhappy brother-in-law, who find both solace—and loss—in each other’s company. First presented by the Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, as part of its Festival of One-Act Plays.
Included in the collection
Uncle Lumpy Comes to Visit and No Time.
