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Infancy

Short Play, Comedy  /  2w, 3m

Thornton Wilder

Babies act like grown-ups and grown-ups act like babies in this comedy about fulfilling basic human needs.

Infancy

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 3m
  • Duration
    Duration
    30 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Farce
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene Work
    • Competition or Audition Material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for All Audiences, Adult, Senior, Children (Age 6-10), Pre-Teen (Age 11-13), Teen (Age 14-18)

Details

Summary

Millie the nursemaid brings baby Tommy to Central Park in the hopes of a rendezvous with the handsome Patrolman Avonzino. Mrs. Boker soon arrives with baby Moe, and as the two ladies trade snacks and advice on child rearing, the infants compare notes on their parents' bad behavior and pitiful lack of understanding. Babies act like grown-ups and grown-ups act like babies in this comedy about fulfilling basic human needs.

Published in Thorton Wilder One Act Series: The Ages of Man.

History
Infancy was first produced at the Circle in the Square Theater in New York on January 10, 1962, as one of three plays grouped as "Plays for Bleecker Street". It was televised in 1966 and repeated in 1970.
Keywords
Performing Groups
OFFICER AVONZINO
MISS MILLIE WILCHICK – a nursemaid
TOMMY – a baby in her care
MRS. BOKER
MOE – her baby boy
  • Time Period 1920s
  • Setting Central Park, New York City.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes, Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Local Celebrity Cameo, No Intermission, Physical Comedy
  • Duration 30 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

“It is wonderful to have an original, ever youthful and increasingly wise writer like Thornton Wilder back in the theatre.” – The New York Times

“All children, emerging from the egocentric monsterhood of infancy – 'Gimme! Gimme!' cries the Nero in the bassinet – are out to win their way... from their parents, playmates, from 'life,' from all that is bewildering and inexplicable in themselves. They are also out to win some expression of themselves as individuals.” – Thornton Wilder, The Paris Review Interviews, 1957

Videos

  • Thornton Wilder: It's Time youtube thumbnail

    Thornton Wilder: It's Time

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £40 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

    Please submit a license request to determine availability.

Scripts

Available Formats:
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Authors

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one ...

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