Texas Fox Trot
Characters
- Leona:
- A very old, yet agile woman, still beautiful, and blessed with a magnificent mane of long white hair
- Aldous:
- A very old man, courtly and kind, a gentleman, who is sweet and trusting and innocent as a child. He is devoted to Leona, as is she to him
Setting
A single set play: a cut-away of a two-storied (or two-tiered) cottage. Upstairs is Aldous' bedroom and downstairs is an old, simple country kitchen—a stove, a sink, an icebox, a table, a chair. But amidst the naturalism is a mild intrusion of the surreal: Aldous' "world" upstairs is populated with some larger-than-life artifacts—a three-dimensional model of the moon, an oversized apothecary jar filled with iridescent blue butterfly wings, and a large colorful stuffed parrot. The shadow boxes and sensibilities of Joseph Cornell are the inspiration for the set.
Production history
- Produced, Dark Horse Theater/Nashville Shakespeare Festival, 1992
The Story
The action occurs in three acts and follows the events of Leona and Aldous' day from the time they awaken. They live together and share a significant portion of the day, primarily as Leona tries to get Aldous dressed and prepared for an impending visit by a journalist, Mrs. Settlemeyer. Yet, they live in different worlds: Aldous, his memory failing severely, spends his days making "discoveries" in his room (over and over he "discovers" the moon, the butterflies, the parrot), whereas Leona busies herself making lady fingers, performing her toilet, and dressing—all in anticipation of the visit by Mrs. Settlemeyer. By the end of the play the audience has learned a number of things about them: Who they are (a famous old ballroom dance team), what their days are like (every day is a preparation for another performance of their most famous number, Texas Fox Trot), their happiness and their loneliness (theirs is a mildly psychotic, mildly surreal existence), and their indomitable spirit as they celebrate the daily phenomenon of life.