A Playwright’s Family Tempest in a Teacup
GRS alum explores his roots in “The Devil’s Teacup” at BPT
Can you ever go home again? That’s the central question of The Devil’s Teacup, the new play by Nathan Warren Lane (GRS’07) staged in October at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.
Protagonist Max Fletcher is a struggling musician in New York City. After his father dies, he returns to the small Southern Baptist town where he was raised. There he is faced with a funeral and the sale of the family saloon, the Devil’s Teacup. As Fletcher ponders chasing his dream of becoming a successful musician versus sticking around to run the family business, his brother Oogie and long-lost lover Nicole have opinions of their own.
The play is somewhat autobiographical, says Lane, who grew up in Arkansas, where the Southern Baptist religion is prevalent. “Many of the characters are based on people I know personally,” he says, “or they’re combinations and mutations of people I grew up with.”
The Devil’s Teacup played through October 28 at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. Robin Berghaus can be reached at berghaus@bu.edu.
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