Crawl, Fade to White

by Sheila Callaghan

Comedy / 2m, 3f / Simple Set A scream is heard throughout the stratosphere. It is the voice of the lamp. Louise is selling this expensive family heirloom to keep her daughter April in school and cease her more sordid "consultant" profession. April rushes home with lover in tow to halt the proceedings and save the lamp, but it has been intercepted by a quiet and bizarre middle-aged couple with a haunting secret. Attempts to reclaim the lamp are made, as a misplaced father slowly fades to white in the background. "...A gutsy writer with a gift for creating vivid images rooted in the emotional life of her characters." - The New York Times "...Troubled and precocious college dropout April is described to her mother, Louise, as 'stunningly brilliant' - a line that fits her creator, Sheila Callaghan. The odd characters populating Crawl, Fade to White frantically eat dirt and twist menacingly. Audiences trying to process this engagingly quirky new play might find themselves gaping 'like they're watching the cosmos disrobe.'" - Time Out New York

Genres: Plays

78 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2010

Reviews

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is one of Callaghan's more easily read plays; the dialogue doesn't overlap as much as her others and the language used paints a very clear picture of exactly what is happening in each scene. But it's also one of the more perplexing plot lines. April's combustion, the fading of the father's picture, Louise's beauty consultation business, are all such beautiful and complex images within themselves that it can be difficult to string all of them together in order to find out what composes the larger image.