Talk of the Walk-Up

A Play in Freestyle Verse for Four  Men and Three Women
Two Acts -- Unit Set
Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Can the tyrant change?  Is the good Samaritan really out to help?  A fable in freestyle verse, in a golden-age American city.

Plot Summary

A tyrannical Superintendent (THE SUPER) enforces the building codes with a swing of his bat; but when he discovers a young TV-dialogue-spewing girl (PUMPKIN) in the recycling can, he feels love for the first time.  It makes him more dangerous to the tenants, and more attractive to a tenant (MIMI) with a fetish for reforming bad men.  Her jealous husband (VEGAS) uncovers Pumpkin's terrible past, and forces the Super to choose between Pumpkin and his beloved brownstone.

Talk of the Walk-Up's characters speak in loose rhyming dialogue.  See the sample for details. 

Back to the top

Character Breakdown

THE SUPER, male, late fifties, the tyrannical superintendent of an apartment building
PUMPKIN, female, teens, a street orphan

Tenants of Building
MIMI, female, mid-forties, a Good Samaritan
VEGAS, male, forties, LOLA’s husband, a reformed gambler
LESTER, male, mid-forties, a tough talker
ELAINE, female, sixties, a cynical survivor
TEAFOOT, female, early twenties, a computer hawk

Back to the top

Production History

Talk of the Walk-Up received a workshop production at Manhattan Theatre Source in New York City, with the following cast:

The production was directed by Isaac Butler.  Live Foley Sound Design by Patrick Shearer.   Production Stage Manager was Saundra Yaklin.  Special thanks to Darcy James Argue for use of his music.

Back to the top