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Some Velvet Morning: A Play
He tells her he’s finally left his wife to be with her, news to Velvet since she hasn’t seen him in years and is now friends with Fred’s recently married son. Hopes dashed, Fred engages Velvet in a mesmerizing conversation brimming with passion, remorse, humor, and anger. As power shifts and tension mounts, the young and beautiful Velvet and the older, volatile Fred revisit a shared history, and the twisted heart of their relationship is slowly revealed in a stunning climax. In this provocative two-hander, Neil LaBute continues to explore the nuances of gender relationships, creating a powerful work of sharp and subtle contrasts.
- GenresPlays
112 pages, Paperback
First published December 25, 2013
1 person is currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Neil LaBute
85 books122 followersNeil LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, LaBute was raised in Spokane, Washington. He studied theater at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At BYU he also met actor Aaron Eckhart, who would later play leading roles in several of his films. He produced a number of plays that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable at the conservative religious university, some of which were shut down after their premieres. LaBute also did graduate work at the University of Kansas, New York University, and the Royal Academy of London.
In 1993 he returned to Brigham Young University to premier his play In the Company of Men, for which he received an award from the Association for Mormon Letters. He taught drama and film at IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the early 1990s where he adapted and filmed the play, shot over two weeks and costing $25,000, beginning his career as a film director. The film won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, and major awards and nominations at the Deauville Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Society of Texas Film Critics Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle.
LaBute has received high praise from critics for his edgy and unsettling portrayals of human relationships. In the Company of Men portrays two misogynist businessmen (one played by Eckhart) cruelly plotting to romance and emotionally destroy a deaf woman. His next film Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), with an ensemble cast including Eckhart and Ben Stiller, was a shockingly honest portrayal of the sex lives of three suburban couples. In 2000 he wrote an off-Broadway play entitled Bash: Latter-Day Plays, a set of three short plays (Iphigenia in orem, A gaggle of saints, and Medea redux) depicting essentially good Latter-day Saints doing disturbing and violent things. One of the plays was a much-talked-about one-person performance by Calista Flockhart. This play resulted in his being disfellowshipped from the LDS Church. He has since formally left the LDS Church.
LaBute's 2002 play The Mercy Seat was one of the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Set on September 12, it concerns a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the attack — with his mistress. Expecting that his family believes that he was killed in the towers' collapse, he contemplates using the tragedy to run away and start a new life with his lover. Starring Liev Schreiber and Sigourney Weaver, the play was a commercial and critical success.
LaBute's latest film is The Wicker Man, an American version of a British cult classic. His first horror film, it starred Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn and was released on September 1, 2006 by Warner Bros. Pictures to scathing critical reviews and mediocre box office.
He is working with producer Gail Mutrux on the screen adaptation of The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, LaBute was raised in Spokane, Washington. He studied theater at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At BYU he also met actor Aaron Eckhart, who would later play leading roles in several of his films. He produced a number of plays that pushed the envelope of what was acceptable at the conservative religious university, some of which were shut down after their premieres. LaBute also did graduate work at the University of Kansas, New York University, and the Royal Academy of London.
In 1993 he returned to Brigham Young University to premier his play In the Company of Men, for which he received an award from the Association for Mormon Letters. He taught drama and film at IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the early 1990s where he adapted and filmed the play, shot over two weeks and costing $25,000, beginning his career as a film director. The film won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, and major awards and nominations at the Deauville Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Society of Texas Film Critics Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle.
LaBute has received high praise from critics for his edgy and unsettling portrayals of human relationships. In the Company of Men portrays two misogynist businessmen (one played by Eckhart) cruelly plotting to romance and emotionally destroy a deaf woman. His next film Your Friends & Neighbors (1998), with an ensemble cast including Eckhart and Ben Stiller, was a shockingly honest portrayal of the sex lives of three suburban couples. In 2000 he wrote an off-Broadway play entitled Bash: Latter-Day Plays, a set of three short plays (Iphigenia in orem, A gaggle of saints, and Medea redux) depicting essentially good Latter-day Saints doing disturbing and violent things. One of the plays was a much-talked-about one-person performance by Calista Flockhart. This play resulted in his being disfellowshipped from the LDS Church. He has since formally left the LDS Church.
LaBute's 2002 play The Mercy Seat was one of the first major theatrical responses to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Set on September 12, it concerns a man who worked at the World Trade Center but was away from the office during the attack — with his mistress. Expecting that his family believes that he was killed in the towers' collapse, he contemplates using the tragedy to run away and start a new life with his lover. Starring Liev Schreiber and Sigourney Weaver, the play was a commercial and critical success.
LaBute's latest film is The Wicker Man, an American version of a British cult classic. His first horror film, it starred Nicolas Cage and Ellen Burstyn and was released on September 1, 2006 by Warner Bros. Pictures to scathing critical reviews and mediocre box office.
He is working with producer Gail Mutrux on the screen adaptation of The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 12, 2014
I have to say, when first cracking open the cover and reading about the author and the preface, I did not expect or anticipate for the screen play to unfold so dreadfully. I guess I was expecting superior color to the dialog. The dialog was sketchy at best and too aggressive in some points. The dialog would fluctuate from angry and hateful to loving and kindness without any implications to reasons. Without explanation to this facet of the play, I found it repetitive and exhausting. The drama wore me out. By page 43 I was ready to call it quits. But, to be fair, I did decide to finish the book.
Although the ending did justify the perfunctory rheotirc, I was still a little disappointed once I finished the last page.
Now, having said this, I was sooo disappointed in fact that I could not stop thinking about the story, and how I percieved the direction (or lack of direction) and how I was just muddling through it hoping for some saving grace to the debacle. lol. Alas, understanding this, the story grew on me more and more.
The heart is fickle...
Now I am passing it on to some of my bibliophile friends and putting them through the same affliction as I just suffered. Because I'm giving like that.
Although the ending did justify the perfunctory rheotirc, I was still a little disappointed once I finished the last page.
Now, having said this, I was sooo disappointed in fact that I could not stop thinking about the story, and how I percieved the direction (or lack of direction) and how I was just muddling through it hoping for some saving grace to the debacle. lol. Alas, understanding this, the story grew on me more and more.
The heart is fickle...
Now I am passing it on to some of my bibliophile friends and putting them through the same affliction as I just suffered. Because I'm giving like that.
May 21, 2016
you can more or less call this typical labute, blustering dialog that is albee-lite with the kind of twist a bright high schooler would achieve in a creative writing class. labute is known for his cruelty but that cruelty doesnt ever get us any closer to a truth, it just reminds us that cruelty exists. two characters in a room are mean to each other. there's something to be said here about capital and sex and our self imposed emotional immaturity, but i'll be goddamned if i'm going to go all-in on interpreting something so half-assed.
April 1, 2014
I liked this play, but I wasn't sure if the dialogue seemed a little overdone and trite because it was meant to seem that way. I'm going to assume that it was, given the details that unravel later. I thought the discussion between the two characters went on for longer than needed, and was repetitive. In general, it was good, but not on par with the greats.
May 2, 2021
I’d say about 3.5. It was an unsettling and brash dialogue between very unlikable characters. The author definitely pulled a fast one on me, which I totally should’ve seen coming. Had this been developed into a full novel, it would have been really overwhelming to get through, so I felt the length was good. A very interesting read that I’m still struggling to decide whether I fully enjoyed or not.
January 31, 2022
3.5 . build up is too long. would have worked better as a shorter one act. fun reveal.
March 24, 2015
I am a new LaBute fan, I wasn't always. I loved this play. I thought it was genius. I know it was a screenplay first but it has all the magic and unpredictability that really good theatre should have. Strong characters, great plot, fantastic dialogue, and a surprise ending. It's that feeling that you've been cheated out of happy closure only you haven't because it is exactly what it should be. I recommend it highly.
February 27, 2014
I read all his plays. Can't wait for this one. It's also a film now but I haven't seen it.
September 7, 2016
Did NOT see that coming...
August 30, 2014
Strong two-person script that's an emotional roller coaster. Wish it had a different ending...
January 28, 2015
This just...fucked me up. The last few pages changed everything.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews