Getting Frankie Married, produced by Stephanie Terronez, continues Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 2 pm; through May 15. Tickets: $20-$25. Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; 323.882.6912 or openfist.org.
Scott Paulin
“Horton loved telling stories,” says good friend Scott Paulin. “He was a marvelous student of human life; he really got to the heart of things.” This April The Open Fist Theatre Company presents Getting Frankie Married-And Afterwards, one of the last plays by the late, award-winning playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote.
Foote was not only a decorated writer, says Paulin, long-time friend and director of Getting Frankie Married, but more importantly, he was a storyteller for humanity. Like almost all of his pieces, Getting Frankie Married is set in the tiny Southern town of Harrison, which was modeled after his own hometown of Wharton, Texas.
The story revolves around two long-time lovers, Frankie and Fred as they strive to be conventional, normal citizens in their small town. Throughout the play the couple feels pressured to get married from the established matriarchy of their families, the fabulous old Texan women who “suffer no fools.”
Algerita Lewis, Judith Scarpone and John Lacy
This women-heavy comedy, describes Paulin, is about an older generation in the middle class, trying to hand off a legacy of affluence to their children while lacking the moral character to do so successfully. Written at the same time as Foote’s Dividing the Estate which received a Tony nomination, Getting Frankie Married has Chekhovian undertones of the rural middle class coping with the end of an empire. This theme not only provides Foote a platform for a rich narrative and colorful characters but for universal social critique.
“He made that little corner into a microcosm for the world,” says Paulin who has previously collaborated on many of Foote’s plays. He enjoys directing Foote’s plays because of the compounded layers to discover within this “small town” world. Although the plot and action are straightforward, the relationships run deep. “They are so layered you never get to the bottom of it. Every day, every rehearsal is a new revelation.”
Foote died in early March of 2009 after spending the last 10 years of his life in the Pacific Palisades. Especially in the later years of his life, he wrote about how the people within these relationships finished the end of their lives.
Stephanie Erb, Laura Richardson, Martha Demson, Andrew Schlessinger and Teresa Willis
“He was able to write about it with humor and honesty, partly because he just wrote really wonderful plays and partly because a lot of it was extremely personal to him,” says Paulin. And this personal touch came from Foote’s love of people and stories. “He heard everything.”
Paulin met Foote in 1981 while performing in a scene from his play Lily Dale (which is part of Foote’s nine-hour play The Orphan’s Home Cycle). The two immediately became good friends and close artistic colleagues. Paulin believes Foote’s success comes from his ability to tell stories, even if he was only guessing.
“He always had great characters, a love of story-telling, gossip and a love of speculating on stories with just tidbits of information,” says Paulin. Foote was well known in his family for his ears and his memory. “He was an excellent listener; he listened to stories about his hometown and remembers every single family member.”
Using his memories and anecdotes as building blocks for his plays and movies, Foote has left a legacy behind Paulin hopes will continue to speak to audiences for generations to come. With recent success in New York with The Orphan Cycle (which Paulin’s daughter is currently performing in as Lily in Lily Dale), it was an important decision to bring Foote’s work west where it is rarely done and not well known.
“This process has truly been a dream,” says Paulin. “Although I wish I could pick up the phone and talk to him and ask him a question, it’s one of his last plays and therefore I feel closest to it.”
