Thursday, April 9, 2015

Case Study No. 1882: Staff of Unnamed Library (Alphabetical Order)

Alphabetical Order
2:29
The Library office of the provincial newspaper. A scene of permanent and utter confusion-the cluttered chaos of the room is matche The Library office of the provincial newspaper. A scene of permanent and utter confusion-the cluttered chaos of the room is matched by the general life of its manageress, Lucy, and her associates: but it is also a scene of warmth and easy, if somewhat juvenile and irresponsible, light-heartedness. Enter Leslie, a new young assistant with a passion for organization. In a very short while she transforms both the office and the lives of it inhabitants and visitors into something orderly and neat-and also arid and colorless. An announcement that the paper is to close, leads (in Leslie's absence) to a revitalizing and glorious orgy of destruction and return to chaos: but Leslie can coolly cope with even this crisis- and Lucy is left smiling wryly in the end.

Fort Collins High School
Black Box Mini Theater
Sept. 20-23rd and 27-29th
Tix are $5
Doors at 7pm, Show at 7:30
Tags: KLYD FCHS Fort Collins High School Theater Promo Michael Frayne Alphabetical Order asgannen
Added: 7 years ago
From: Asgannen
Views: 1,261

[scene opens with various shots of file cabinets and messy desks]
NARRATOR: The library office of the provincial newspaper! A scene of permanent and utter confusion!
[cut to a young female librarian (hair tied back, pink business suit) cradling a phone between her chin and her shoulder while frantically flipping through papers in a folder]
NARRATOR: The cluttered chaos of the room is matched by the general life of its manageress, Lucy, and her associates ...
[cut to a couple of male employees talking to each other]
NARRATOR: But it is also a scene of warmth and easy, if somewhat juvenile and irresponsible, light-heartedness.
[cut to another young librarian (short brown hair, black sweater, long pink skirt) entering the room]
NARRATOR: Enter Leslie, a new young assistant with a passion for organization!
[cut to Leslie moving around some papers]
NARRATOR: In a very short, while she transforms both the office and the lives of it inhabitants and visitors into something orderly and neat ...
[cut to various shots of the previously messy library turning into a tidy working environment]
NARRATOR: And also arid and colorless.
[cut to the employees looking bored]
NARRATOR: An announcement that the paper is to close leads, in Leslie's absence ...
[cut to the employees suddenly throwing papers around the room]
NARRATOR: To a revitalizing and glorious orgy of destruction, and return to chaos!
[cut to Leslie entering the room as papers continue to fly through the air]
NARRATOR: But Leslie can coolly cope with even this crisis ...
[cut to Lucy as she smiles and throws papers around the room with the others]
NARRATOR: And Lucy is left smiling wryly in the end.
[cut to one of the performers (a male high school student) speaking directly to the camera]
NICK HOLMES: Hi, I'm Arnold ... uh, and the show is called "Alphabetical Order," and you should come because it's the funniest thing you've ever seen in your life. Uh, and you should also come because it's one of my last shows.
[cut to another male student speaking directly to the camera]
MITCH TODD: So I'm Wally, and ... well, actually, my real name is Mitch Todd. But my character's Wally. And, uh, it's a pretty good show. Like, it's not a lotta money, so it's worth your money. So it's pretty good, though.
[cut to a female student speaking directly to the camera]
LAUREN DISTELKAMP: Hi, I'm Lauren. I play Leslie in "Alphabetical Order," and you should come see it because it's really funny and my character's funny and we have some great people on the show, so come see it.
[cut to another male student speaking directly to the camera]
TRYSTEN CAIN: Hey, I'm Trysten Cain. I am playing John, big mouth ... uh, talks a lot. You're not gonna understand half of what he says, it's kinda funny. Uh, the show is gonna be crazy. It's quick, it's fast paced, it's British humor, so you know it's gonna be good. So definitely check it out, because it'll be like nothing you've ever seen.

Alphabetical Order
Tix On Sale
Box Office
4-6th Period
Only $5

September
20-22nd
27-29th
Doors at 7pm
Show at 7:30pm

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From amazon.com:

Winner of the Evening Standard Best Comedy Award after its long run at the Hampstead Theatre and on the West End in 1975, Alphabetical Order is set in the library of a provincial newspaper where battle is joined between the forces of order and chaos, between arid organisation in the person of the new library assistant, Leslie, and humane confusion in the person of Lucy, the much-loved resident librarian. Drawing on his experience as a journalist, Frayn draws his gallery of characters with the hilarious accuracy which can only come from first-hand experience.

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From samuelfrench.com:

Alphabetical Order
Michael Frayn

Alphabetical Order takes place in the library office of a provincial newspaper a scene of permanent and utter confusion. The cluttered chaos of the room is matched by the life of its manager Lucy and her associates. It is a scene of warmth and easy if somewhat juvenile and irresponsible light heartedness until Leslie, a new young assistant with a passion for organization, enters. In a short time, she has transformed both the lives of its inhabitants and visitors into something orderly, neat, arid and colorless. An announcement that the paper is to close leads in Leslie's absence to a revitalizing and glorious orgy of destruction and return to chaos. But Leslie can coolly cope with even this crisis and Lucy is left smiling wryly at the second, and final, end of the play.

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From google.com:

Leslie, the new assistant librarian in the newspaper library, is "a shy, clever, violent" young woman. The librarian, Lucy, is an affable sort in her mid-30s. Everyone likes her because of her sympathetic attitude toward her staff and toward other newspaper employees. Lucy presides over an office that is anything but as neat as alphabetical order. It is a study in chaos, yet Lucy and her crew get the job done.

When Leslie appears for her first day on the job, all do their best to impress her with their loony charm and lopsided wit. Lucy sees that Leslie is not amused; the newcomer is more interested in pigeonholing everyone according to a few simple personality traits. In short order, Leslie whips the library into a state of frightening efficiency, and she moves in on John, Lucy's new live-in mate, with the idea that she's doing him a favor. He needs to be "pinned down." "Preferably withoutanesthetics," notes Lucy.

When the paper folds, Lucy and her staff return to their habit of comical anarchy, but they seem ready to follow the determined Leslie when she tries to rally them to keep the paper going on their own.

The play has moments of mirth in the reading, although it is too sketchy to achieve any real character development.

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