The Lydie Breeze Trilogy
By John Guare
February-April 2017
Christ Church Neighborhood House
A legendary trilogy presented in full for the first time.
The centerpiece of the season, the Lydie Breeze Trilogy is the pinnacle of Tony Award-winning playwright John Guare’s career. Written over a 30-year period, this will be the first time this monumental American epic will be seen in its entirety. This sweeping historical drama traces the journey of the Breeze family from the age of Nantucket whaling, through Civil War battlefields, to the creation (and destruction) of a utopian community, to the dawning of the 20th century. Each part was presented as an individual run, culminating in a marathon viewing experience where audiences could see each part on consecutive nights or join us on the weekend for a 12-hour trilogy with meal breaks.
Lydie Breeze, Part I:
Cold Harbor
Under the orders of Ulysses S. Grant, wave after wave of men charge to their death, 700 dead in 30 minutes. Names are put on the young soldiers’ backs to identify the dead, while Nurse Breeze collects their valuables to deliver back home to their loved ones. On the bloody battlefields, Lydie meets Amos, Dan, and Joshua, and together they seek a truce to stop the madness of General Grant. On their journey, they uncover whaling ship mutinies, talking pigs and buzzard gods, the Underground Railroad, and Lydie’s long buried family secrets. Out of the chaos of war, they forge a vision for a new life and a new America. Guare’s trilogy begins with this explosive adventure play.
Creative Team
Lane Savadove … Director
Marketa Fantova … Set Designer
Marie Anne Chiment … Costume Designer
Mike Inwood … Lighting Designer
Dane Eissler, Kelsey Romeo, & Katie Kiessling … Props Designers
Jay Ansill & Cynthia Hopkins … Original Music
Jay Ansill … Music Director
Jamel Baker … Stage Manager
Philadelphia Scenic Works … Technical Coordinator
Kiran Grace … Costumer
Dane Eissler … Associate Director
Amanda Clegg Lyon … Associate Lighting Designer
Katie Kiessling … Assistant Director
Kierceton Keller … Assistant Costume Designer
Eleanor Safer … Assistant Stage Manager
Dave Garrett Sarrafian … Production Photos
Cast
Melanie Julian … Lydie Breeze
Charlie DelMarcelle … Joshua Hicks
Ed Swidey … Amos Mason
David Girard … Dan Grady
with
Terrill Braswell, Andrew Carroll, Nathan Foley, Victoria Goins, Mark Knight, Shamus Hunter McCarty, Marcellus McQueen, Frank Nardi, Jr., Amanda Jill Robinson, Kristy Joe Slough, Grant Struble, Jahzeer Terrell, Han Van Sciver, Clara Weishahn, Kylie Westerbeck, David Strattan White, & Philip Wilson
Lydie Breeze, Part II:
Aipotu
Lydie, Joshua, Dan, and Amos settle on Nantucket to create a Utopian commune to heal the scars of war. Aipotu will become a beacon for a new America. Faced with the realities of communal living – What will we do for money? Who’s turn to tend to the baby? Where is the cow? – each member grapples with their commitment to Aipotu and each other. Can an unexpected treasure from a dubious source save them, or do the fractures within the group run too deep? As America searches for its new post-war identity, this makeshift family must make room for their inner demons to find a new path.
Creative Team
Lane Savadove … Director
Marketa Fantova … Set Designer
Marie Anne Chiment … Costume Designer
Mike Inwood … Lighting Designer
Dane Eissler & Katie Kiessling … Props Designers
Jay Ansill with Cynthia Hopkins … Original Music
Jay Ansill … Music Director
Jamel Baker … Stage Manager
Philadelphia Scenic Works … Technical Coordinator
Kiran Grace … Costumer
Dane Eissler … Associate Director
Amanda Clegg Lyon … Associate Lighting Designer
Katie Kiessling … Assistant Director
Kierceton Keller … Assistant Costume Designer
Eleanor Safer … Assistant Stage Manager
Dave Garrett Sarrafian … Production Photos
Cast
Melanie Julian … Lydie Breeze
Charlie DelMarcelle … Joshua Hicks
Ed Swidey … Amos Mason
David Girard … Dan Grady
Hannah Gold … Beaty
Jonas Parker … Jeremiah
Mark Knight … O’Malley
Music Ensemble
Andrew Carroll, Amanda Jill Robinson, Kylie Westerbeck, & Kristy Joe Slough
Lydie Breeze, Part III:
Madaket Road
The dawning of the 20th century. Nantucket island is slowly sinking into the sea. The legacy of Aipotu lingers on. Surrounded by the ghosts of their past, the next generation grapples with the crumbling foundation of their family. When a strange visitor in black arrives on their shores, the past and present blur, and the sky, sea, and land melt into one. On the beach at night alone, a father gifts his daughter her mother’s journal. Histories are revealed, family is discovered, ghosts dissolve into memories, and the light of utopia flickers again.
Creative Team
Lane Savadove … Director
Marketa Fantova … Set Designer
Marie Anne Chiment … Costume Designer
Mike Inwood … Lighting Designer
Katie Kiessling … Props Designer
Jay Ansill with Cynthia Hopkins … Original Music
Jay Ansill … Music Director
Jamel Baker … Stage Manager
Philadelphia Scenic Works … Technical Coordinator
Kiran Grace … Costumer
Dane Eissler … Associate Director
Amanda Clegg Lyon … Associate Lighting Designer
Katie Kiessling … Assistant Director
Kierceton Keller … Assistant Costume Designer
Eleanor Safer … Assistant Stage Manager
Dave Garrett Sarrafian … Production Photos
Cast
Kylie Westerbeck … Little Lydie
Melanie Julian … Lydie Breeze
Hannah Gold … Beaty
Kristie Ecke … Gussie
Charlie DelMarcelle … Joshua Hicks
Dane Eissler … Jude Emerson
Grant Struble … Jeremiah
Shamus Hunter McCarty … Lucian Rock
Music Ensemble
Victoria Goins, Jahzeer Terrell, Hannah Van Sciver, & Philip Wilson
About John Guare
John Guare (born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter.
Guare’s plays include The House of Blue Leaves (NY Drama Critics Circle Award); Six Degrees of Separation (NY Drama Critics Circle Award; Olivier Award, Best Play); Landscape of the Body; Two Gentlemen of Verona (TONY Award); and A Free Man of Color (Pulitzer Prize finalist). He wrote the script for the film Atlantic City (Oscar nomination, Venice Film Festival Best Film).
He is the recipient of the 2003 PEN Master Dramatist Award; the 2004 Gold Medal in Drama, American Academy of Arts and Letters; and the 2005 Obie Sustained Excellence. He has taught playwriting at Yale, Harvard, Princeton, NYU, and Juilliard. He is the co-editor of the Lincoln Center Theater Review.