STRETCH (a fantasia) is a play in which President Nixon's longtime secretary, Rose Mary Woods, observes the presidential election of 2004 from her swing-state nursing home. Thinks about power, loyalty, and lying. And has some very strange dreams...
it had a developmental production in Soho Think Tank's Ice Factory Festival in 2007.
it had a musical score by Rachel Peters & was directed by Emma Griffin.
New Georges produced it at The Living Theatre with the same team in 2008.
People's Light & Theatre in Malvern, PA, produced it in 2010; it was directed there by Daniella Topol.
Listen to an excerpt featuring the incomparable Kristin Griffith, with sound design by Natalie Johnsonius Neubert, for Necessary Exposure: The Female Playwright Project.
It's published by Playscripts. Or find it on the New Play Exchange.
On the New Georges production:
"An inventive work, lyrical and stark at the same time." – The New York Times "Bernfield whittles Woods into a gorgeously limber fantasy ... a characteristically handsome production from New Georges, made even lusher by romantic compositions for strings and electric typewriter. But it's Griffith we're there to see. Woods herself is no match for [the performance]: It's indelible." – Time Out New York "A terrifically engaged journey through the landscape of American dreams and disaffection… a gentle play driven by achingly acute questions. A wonderfully designed theatrical world. Griffith is gangbusters." – Backstage “Stretch is a powerful, painful play. It's no stretch for me to say that it's unmissable. [A] marvelous play.” – New Theatre Corps photos by Jim Baldassare. top: Kristin Griffith, Brian Gerard Murray, Eric Clem; bottom: Kristin Griffith. New Georges, 2008. |
And at People's Light:
"Her characterization seems honest and real... we get a feisty, salty, opinionated and highly knowledgeable woman, utterly unsentimental and altogether human." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer "A fascinating and welcome character to follow throughout the play... You love her. You listen to her stories. She makes you laugh, and she makes you think and she makes you care. A thoroughly engaging and intellectual play." -- Montgomery News above: Alda Cortese People's Light & Theatre, 2010. |