From Director M. Bevin O’Gara

What is APPROPRIATE about? 

The story of APPROPRIATE is about the Lafayette siblings assembling at their father’s home in Arkansas after his death to parse out what remains of the old plantation home where he lived and ultimately died.

What is it actually about? Where to start? It’s about the sins of the father being passed down to his children, and how that shifts from generation to generation. It asks what we have a right to profit from or “appropriate”, and if we can ever bury the dead? It’s about what find acceptable and what we find disturbing, and how that may change over time. It’s about the impossibility of knowing the absolute truth about certain events in our past. There’s so much more, but I’d rather see how audiences respond.

What is exciting to you about this project?

Working at SpeakEasy is always exciting for me.  The cast for this show is phenomenal. It’s a mix of familiar faces and new talents. I love being in a room full of thoughtful and willing actors, and this it one of those rooms. The script itself offers some exciting challenges from a production standpoint, but I don’t want to spoil anything for the audience.

It’s always enjoyable to work about families, because they are people who have seen each other at their worst. You are stuck with your family in one way or another forever, so all bets are off any promise of good behavior is out the window.

Why will SpeakEasy audiences love this show?

There’s a lot to dig into in this play. People will leave talking. APPROPRIATE gives you plenty to think about. And people behaving badly is always fun to watch, you will feel guilty for laughing at them. One minute it’s hilarious the next it’s heartbreaking. That’s the kind of ride I look for in the theatre.