JAC Publishing & Promotions

 
Oswald's Backyard by Leslie Bramm

ISBN #1-933159-057

JAC
#2005-0001

Cast

  • AN INTERVIEWER: Late 30s. Snide, aloof. Appears only on the television.
  • LEO OSCAR: 24 years old. Sometimes tender, sometimes volatile. Takes himself seriously.  Doesn’t like to be laughed at.
  • THE COMRADE: Older than Leo. The homunculus. Lurks after Leo and appears only to him.  May or may not be Che Quevera.
  • RINA OSCAR: Early 20s. Leo’s wife. Russian-born. Pop-obsessed, new American.  Wants to have fun. Very beautiful and barefoot.
  • GEORGE: 40s. Norma Jean’s husband. Good ol’ boy charm. Loves to have a good time.
  • NORMA JEAN: 40s. Loves a good time. Sensual & intelligent. Able to figure people out.

The Setting
Leo Oscar’s backyard, 4907 Magazine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. It is late morning, afternoon an early evening, September, 1963.

Leslie BrammSynopsis
In his backyard, Leo Oscar is the United States of America. Naïve, petulant and ultimately violent. Leo is at the center of our national obsession—the search for identity. He battles between idealism and a desire for fame. The television, the media, is his ultimate confirmation.  The play is set in New Orleans, September of 1963, in and out of Leo Oscar’s mind. He has managed to create a political commotion around himself that lands him a shot on a local TV talk show. It is the day the show airs, and it has become Leo’s passion—his big break. However, Leo’s story is complicated by a television that won’t work, the arrival of some unexpected house guests, and the return of an old friend. Leo is frustrated and humiliated until it is inevitable that he lashes out.  While the events in this play may closely resemble the real life Lee Harvey Oswald, this is fiction. The play does not address or rebut any particular conspiracy, but instead explores the psychological landscape of a young American man, driven to extremely desperate actions.

Author Biography

Leslie Bramm’s plays have been produced, work-shopped and/or developed by Three Crows Theatre, The Present Company, The Penobscot Theatre, The Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Emerging Artists Theatre, Nicu’s Spoon, The Edward Albee Last Frontier Conference, and Reverie Productions, to name a few. Bramm is the recipient of a Stanley Drama Award (Oswald’s Backyard) A Paul T. Nolan Award (Islands of Repair) A Tennessee Williams Literary Award (Big Ball). Marvelous Shrine was a semi-finalist in the 2008 O’Neill Festival. He is published by JAC Publications, Smith and Krause, Brooklyn Publishers, One Act Play Depot and the New York Theatre Experience. Bramm and actor Kevin Corrigan co-founded indie rock band Diz Dam, where they sang and played guitar. He also co-wrote the screen play This is Not Here with Corrigan. Based on the memoir The Last Days of John Lennon. Bramm is also a published poet. Bramm is a member of the Pool, Emerging Artist Theatre, The League of Independent Theatres and the Dramatist Guild.

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“A complicated, fascinating work.”
- Martin Denton, nytheatre.com

"Bramm creates some very interesting abstractions with his stereotypical characters...bizarre and funny with chucks of truth and sarcasm flying around."
-Richard Hinojosa, nytheatre.com

Have you read Bramm's one acts with JAC, Big Ball or Islands of Repair?

 
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Matt Mullin (Leo) with Mikki Jordan as Rina



Mikki Jordan as Rina

Douglas Gowland as George & Matt Mullin as Leo.