Balm in Gilead

For literary mentions of "balm in Gilead", see Balsam of Mecca. For other uses, see Balm of Gilead (disambiguation).

Balm in Gilead is a 1965 play written by American playwright Lanford Wilson.

Dramatic structure

Wilson's first full-length effort, Balm in Gilead centers on a cafe frequented by heroin addicts, prostitutes (both male and female) and thieves. It features many unconventional theatrical devices, such as overlapping dialogue, simultaneous scenes and largely unsympathetic lead characters. The plot draws a parallel between the amoral, often criminal activity that the café's denizens engage in to provide temporary relief from their boredom and suffering, and the two main characters' becoming a couple in order to escape from their lives.

The play takes its title from a quote in the Old Testament. (Book of Jeremiah, chapter 46, v. 11)

Production history

Wilson wrote the play while living in New York City, finding inspiration by sitting in cafés and listening to different conversations. He approached Marshall W. Mason, whom he knew from the Caffe Cino, to direct the production. After workshops in the directing and playwriting units of the Actors Studio, it debuted off-off-Broadway at the La Mama Experimental Theater Club on January 22, 1965, and was a notable critical and commercial success. It was the first full-length play ever produced off-off-Broadway, and became the first play from off-off-Broadway to be published (by Hill and Wang). Its two most notable productions since were a 1981 revival by Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and another, the 1984 John Malkovich-directed revival starring Jonathan Hogan, Danton Stone, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, Giancarlo Esposito, and Glenne Headly, co-produced by the Circle Repertory Company and Steppenwolf. Metcalf was showered with praise for her performance, specifically for her 20-minute monologue in Act Two.

In 2005 the play was revived by the Barefoot Theatre Company in New York City, under the direction of Eric Nightengale, who assisted Malkovich in the 1984 revival. The Barefoot revival starred Anna Chlumsky, Francisco Solorzano, Luca Pierruci, Jennie West and Jeff Keilholtz.

T. Schreiber Studio's company of Balm in Gilead, with playwright Lanford Wilson (seated center)

In 2010, the play returned to its off-off Broadway roots in a revival by the company at acclaimed acting studio T. Schreiber Studio in New York City. The revival, under the direction of the studio's associate artistic director, Peter Jensen, experienced widespread critical and audience acclaim, including recognition from Backstage Magazine for the ensemble as one of their favorite performances of 2010-2011 . The overwhelming response throughout the off-off-Broadway community resulted in 2 extensions of the initial six-week run, ending after nine weeks on December 18, 2010. The revival played to sold-out houses for every show throughout the entire run, including playwright Lanford Wilson himself on December 12, 2010, who summed up his thoughts on the production by calling it "a thrill to see". This would be the final production of his own work that he would see before his death in March, 2011. In September 2011, this production garnered 8 NYIT Award nominations for off-off Broadway productions and won the award for Outstanding Production of a Play.

Plot

Set in Frank's café, a greasy spoon diner in New York City's Upper Broadway neighborhood, Balm in Gilead loosely centers on Joe, a cynical drug dealer, and Darlene, a naïve new arrival to the big city, over the course of three days. Joe seduces Darlene hours after they meet (although who seduces whom is debatable), but he soon pushes her away, overwhelmed by his debt to a local kingpin named Chuckles. Darlene, meanwhile, finds herself completely ill-equipped to handle life in a New York slum, and she becomes increasingly vulnerable to the attentions of the various low-rent men who hang around the café looking for an easy target.

Joe, seeing in Darlene a chance for a fresh start, briefly considers giving up dealing. Just as he is about to return Chuckles' money, however, he is killed by one of the dealer's thugs. The play ends with all the principal characters droning their lines from the first scene over and over again in a circle, implying that their lives are stuck in a demoralizing rut.

Characters

• Joe, a small-time drug dealer looking to go into business with Chuckles, the local kingpin
• Darlene, a naïve young woman newly arrived to New York
• Dopey, an older junkie, the play's unofficial narrator
• Fick, a pathetic, childlike junkie
• Ann, a prostitute
• John, the café's manager
• Franny, a transvestite prostitute who caters to many of the café's other hustlers
• Tig and Bob, two sociopathic junkies who prey on attractive new arrivals (both male and female) to the café
• Xavier, Joe's friend and fellow drug dealer, whose exploitation of a particularly wretched junkie moves Joe to consider quitting.
• Rake, A hustler, one of the "Fellows on the Corner".
• Bonnie, a prostitute