Bernice/Butterfly: A Two-Part Invention
THE STORY: In this theatrical tour de force, two seemingly unrelated plays turn out to be one story, a discovery not made until the surprise ending.
BERNICE AT BAY concerns itself with Bernice, waitress at the O-Kay Diner in a small, dying Kansas town. Bernice works the breakfast shift, calls each regular by name and carries on a hilarious running dialogue with Helen, the cook. But we only see Bernice, and little by little the heartbreaking pieces of her private drama break through the comedic façade as we realize what we are really seeing.
In THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, we meet Randall—in academic robes and a bad haircut. Standing at a lectern, he apparently delivers an annual lecture to the American Philosophical Society. We hear occasional bursts of applause as he rants on in an absurdist parody of contemporary philosophical jargon. His life, it appears, has been ruined by the “Butterfly Effect” —one false step leading to chaos…a misplaced hand, a beautiful young boy…
With the sudden surprising reappearance of Bernice, these two “inventions” unite to form a bittersweet tragicomedy. The American Dream doesn’t always happen, and in this small, dusty Kansas town it almost never does.
“…that rare animal, a play that makes you laugh as well as think.” —Boulder Weekly.
“…the stuff of great literature. Jackson takes two seemingly disparate characters and makes them universal.” —Denver Post.
“…finishes with a revelation, a potent finale for a potent piece of theatre.” —Santa Fe New Mexican.
