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Charles Ives Take Me Home

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 2m

Jessica Dickey

Dissonance, defense and devotion are explored in this poignant, comedic work about the tension between a father's love for music and a daughter's passion for basketball. Charles Ives acts as the family's referee.

Charles Ives Take Me Home

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Not Applicable
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for All Audiences, Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Nominee: 2013 Susan Blackburn Prize for Best Play

Details

Summary
Basketball and music collide in this smart, endearing story about a daughter yearning to connect with a distant father. Coach Laura visits her divorced dad John on weekends, desperately trying to breach the gap between their passions. Only long-dead modernist composer Charles Ives can convince John to see the connections between violin and basketball and help this family reunite.
History

Charles Ives Take Me Home premiered in New York City at the Rattlestick Theatre in December of 2013. 

Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
CHARLES IVES - The modernist composer. Well into the latest years of his life, but full of enthusiasm and mischief and humor. Deeply subversive and humanist.
COACH LAURA STARR - 30s. Slightly butch, geeky, high school basketball coach. Takes the game very seriously. Great dribbling skills. Tough and vulnerable.  
JOHN STARR - 50s. A talented violinist. Strict, patriarchal, devoted to his music, a cold father. Resentful of sports.
  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

"[Dickey's] writing has freshness, economy, an occasional cheeky vulgarity and a fine measure of poetic insight." - The New York Times

REVIEWS

"[Dickey's] writing has freshness, economy, an occasional cheeky vulgarity and a fine measure of poetic insight." - The New York Times, Read More

"Good storytelling makes good theatre, and Jessica Dickey is a damn good storyteller. What really works is her creative approach to the story, and she is two for two with The Amish Project and Charles Ives Take Me Home... I suppose many playwrights could find a story to tell in the life of composer Charles Ives (1874-1954), but Dickey takes Ives and applies his passions to a modern-day father and daughter in poignant fashion." - NY Theatre Reviews, Read More

"Like an Ives sonata—sometimes jagged, sometimes lyrical—the play...is an accomplished, affecting composition." - The New Yorker, Read More 

RELATED ARTICLES ON BREAKING CHARACTER 

Fathers, Daughters, Violins and Basketball: Bringing It All Together
by Garrett Anderson
April 22, 2016

Licensing & Materials

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Authors

Jessica Dickey

Jessica Dickey

Jessica Dickey, a native of Pennsylvania, began her research on Amish culture in order to write her play The Amish Project, which was praised by audiences and critics alike during its Off-Broadway run at the prestigious Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York City. The A ...

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