Thumbs
Notes
Setting
A cabin in the mountain valley of Barnstock, Vermont.
The Present.
Act One
Late afternoon, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Act Two
Late afternoon, a few days later.
INTERMISSION
Act Three
Later, after midnight
The Elden Street Players would like to thank the following
people and local businesses for their continued support, and for helping to make
this another successful production.
The Tortilla Factory
Town of Herndon Parks and Recreation
Department
Town of Herndon Department of Public Works
Great Harvest Bread Company
Leslie & Alan Peterson
Mike Burger
Myles & Pam Meehan
Brian Bortz
Al Spencer
Mike Schlabach
Director’s Notes
When asked about our production of Thumbs, I often start off by saying
that it is a follow-up to our very successful production of Accomplice
last season. However, the two plays have nothing to do with one another except
that they were both penned by the same playwright. In truth, this production of
Thumbs is not so much a follow-up to Accomplice as it is just another
chapter in a personal story that I have been enjoying for many years. You see,
several years ago (late 80’s or early 90’s) I went home to Kansas City for a
visit and saw a production of a one-man play called Solitary Confinement
(it had a very successful run several years ago at the Kennedy Center with
Stacey Keach).
The play thrilled me so much, that I began a quest to gain permission to
produce it as a one-act at a local festival. The quest involved calls to royalty
companies, the theater in Kansas City and finally to Partners in Crime
productions in New York City. After explaining what I wanted to do to the
gentleman that answered the phone, he said they would need to check with the
playwright, Rupert Holmes (one of the owners of Partners in Crime productions).
The next day, I received a phone call from Rupert Holmes, himself. As a young
community theater actor/director in my mid-twenties, I was a nervous wreck
trying to explain what I wanted to do and at the same time apologizing for
having bothered him. After all, this was Rupert Holmes, a Tony award-winning
playwright (Mystery of Edwin Drood), songwriter (ever heard the Pina
Colada song) and (now) author.
Despite my nerves, Mr. Holmes could not have been nicer. During the
conversation he gave me permission to do the one-act version of Solitary
Confinement, but he also wanted to know if I had ever heard of Accomplice.
I had not and he offered to send me copies of both scripts. Unfortunately, the
one-act version of Solitary Confinement never came to pass, but I held
tightly to Accomplice as an unknown gem that I knew I would one day
direct.
In 1997, Elden Street Players offered to let me direct Accomplice in
the late spring. I accepted. However, shortly after that decision, the rights
for The Who’s Tommy were released to community theater. Having just
helped direct Hair the summer before, they offered me Tommy and I
put Accomplice back on the shelf where it sat for six more years.
Then, last season, when we were unable to cast enough men in a production of
Amadeus, we decided to dust off the plans for Accomplice. However,
in order to produce Accomplice at a community theater level, it required
the playwright’s guidance on how to scale back some of the effects and change
some dialogue references. Once again, I found myself calling and corresponding
with Rupert Holmes and his assistant Teressa. They gave us all the support we
needed and the production was a huge success. Although Rupert was not able to
attend the production, he loved the reviews, the extended sellout run and asked
that we send him a video tape.
Based on our production of Accomplice, Mr. Holmes made an
extraordinary gesture to let ESP produce the regional premiere of Thumbs.
We, of course, accepted and hope that this production meets his and your
expectations. Enjoy the show… and if another Rupert Holmes play shows up in
future seasons, now you will know why.
Thank you, Rupert.
Your friend,
Todd C. Huse
