Wake: A Folk Opera
A broken window.
A long-lost son.
A woman searching for home.
Chicago, 1996. When Joel, a thirty-something scatterbrain, (finally!) stops by his mom’s house after years of estrangement, he finds a quasi-abandoned house and Risa, the woman who’s taken it upon herself to water the kind "‘Lady in Blue”’s plants.
Joel soon learns that his mother has been dead and buried for months, and the two strangers spend the rest of the night navigating wounds old and fresh, confronting grief, and sharing a space that both and neither can call home. A story about found family, connection, ships-in-bottles, and the glories of microwaved ding-dongs.
Book and lyrics by Jessica Wright Buha with music by Jenn Romero.
Genre: cozy drama
Length: One act, 75 minutes
Cast: 2 actors
Ensemble: 2 musicians
Set: The dining room of a house
To read a perusal script, contact Jess here.
JOEL: My mother was kind.
All mothers are kind.
RISA: My mother liked to look in mirrors
Like an evil witch.
She said I was special
But her eyes would move when she spoke
Like they do when you’re lying.
JOEL: But she loved you.
RISA: I think when she saw me she was sad
Because she thought I was broken
She said, you speak like a broken toy
I sometimes think I can hear her calling,
Walking the streets til her shoes fall off,
Calling “Risa, Risa,
We’re so sad without you, dear Risa.”
Productions
Wake: A Folk Opera was designed to take place in an actual dining room in someone’s living space.
Wake has been toured to:
A private home in Chicago, IL
A private home in St. Louis, MO
A private home in Briarcliff Manor, NY
A private home in Brooklyn, NY
A private home in Manhattan, NY
A YWCA in White Plains, NY
And others
Production photos by Joe Mazza - Brave Lux