directed by
AUSTIN PENDLETON
Fingers & Spoons
The Ins and Outs of an Open Marriage
written and performed by
PASCALE ROGER-MCKEEVER
A mid 40s suburban mom accepts her husband’s invitation to an open marriage, and proceeds with a singleness of purpose no one saw coming. A funny and shameless exploration of shame itself that for good measure upends accepted notions about healing and self-realization along the way.
Reviews
“A remarkable journey into the interior of a woman experiencing what Shakespeare called 'the very wrath of love'... brilliantly performed and written with gut-wrenching honesty by Pascale Roger-McKeever."
- Michael Billington, The Guardian
“Roger-McKeever strips away all the bells and whistles of theatre and conventional ideas about mothers and sexuality …”
- Elissa Barnard, Nova Scotia, NS Review
“…This is raunchy and sometimes uncomfortable; it is sex, not smut but humanness…”
- Pittsburgh: OnStage Pittsburgh
"Extraordinary. [...] It’s funny. It’s sometimes almost harrowing. It’s a roller-coaster. Not an unoriginal word occurs in it [...] working on the piece with Pascale has been one of the most exciting times I’ve had as a director, and I’ve been directing professionally for fifty years. And I’ve seen the effect that the piece has on an audience. It’s electric."
- Austin Pendleton, B’way director, playwright, actor, teacher
"A tale of personal liberation […] The sexy parts are sexy as hell, the painful parts clear and forceful, the humor sly, the fragility and endurance unavoidable... But, oh my goodness, Pascale's performance, holy mother of pearl wow..."
- Mars Wind, San Francisco, Independent Writer
Audience Response
Clips
Genesis
“I dare you!” says a friend. “Dare me what?” says I. “To write an account of your night, blow by blow.” “Are you serious?” “Dead serious.” That’s pretty much how my solo play was born, following a long and arduous labor in the form of a 700 page story, from which a first 40 minute solo was extracted and presented under the title, A Peek at a 21st Century Love Affair, directed by Andrea Hart, and Winner of the 2018 Marsh Madness Competition in San Francisco’s Marsh Theater, and then back to the uterus - and subsequently midwifed by the three stunning sisters Nicolette Chaffey, Andrea Hart and Tracy Ward - arriving, hark the day, with all of its fingers and toes in an 80 minute solo show, directed by Austin Pendleton, and first presented at the 2019 United Solo Festival in New York City
The acclaimed theatre director and drama critic, Harold Clurman, was once quoted saying, “People complain about there being a lot of bad plays out there, but you need a hundred bad plays to get one good one, so I say, bring on the bad plays!” Maybe, just maybe, The Ins and Outs…, at 45 pages, is that one “good” play Mr. Clurman is talking about!
I’ll leave those other ninety-nine to stew in their own juices.
About the Team
Pascale Roger-McKeever
Writer, actor
Pascale’s writing is inspired by the following quote, “…the whole sky has fallen on [me] and all [I] can do about it is shout.” (Antigone, Jean Anouilh)
Austin Pendleton
Director
Pendleton has an extensive career as a film, television, and stage actor, a playwright, theater director, and teacher. He has worked extensively on and off Broadway and is a Tony Award nominee, recipient of Drama Desk and Obie Awards, Screen Actors Guild award winner, and ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company. He wrote Orson’s Shadow, Uncle Bob, and Booth, the adaptation for A Minister’s Wife. Recent acting work includes the Broadway production of Tracy Letts’s The Minutes. Recent directing credits: Between Riverside and Crazy on Broadway, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya at Classic Stage Company. He has made more than 100 film and television appearances.
Tanya Tomkins
Musical Score
Cellist, Tanya Tomkins is an active recitalist and chamber musician and has appeared to critical acclaim throughout Europe, Israel, and the USA.
FOR FUTURE BOOKINGS
contact: Edmund Gaynes
212.947.3489