Synopsis
Imagining Brad
Published by Dramatists Play Service
0 Male 2 Female
One is Dana Sue Kaye, a brassy, voluble bleach-blonde, who chatters on about her wonderful, perfect husband;her high-school sweetheart and the "best looking man in Tennessee"
The other is Brad's wife (Valerie Grown), a shy, soft-spoken newlywed who has just moved down from Philadelphia and is as close-mouthed about her husband as Dana Sue is forthcoming about hers
In time, however, it is revealed that Brad is a grotesque freak; armless, legless, blind and bedridden; while Dana Sue's husband is unmasked as a depraved, brutal wife abuser who, in truth, has made her life a hell
Ironically it is actually Brad, the helpless "bag of flesh," who can feel but not inflict hurt, who is really the "perfect man" and, as the play ends, Dana Sue is sorely tempted to accept Brad's wife's invitation to move in with them and share his protection
A brilliantly conceived absurdist comedy which, in two free-standing but related acts (with The Valerie of Now), uses bizarre theatricality to reveal the often disquieting facts about the true relationship of men and women in contemporary society
" disturbing and arresting Hedges is a major writing talent" - NY Post