For Better
By Eric Coble
Directed by Chip Walton
Originally produced at Curious Theatre, Denver, CO.
November 3,2007 through December 15, 2007
About the Premiere Production: For Better… opens with a "Fugue for Cell Phones", a rapid chorus in which Karen calls her family and friends with news: She’s engaged! Her fiancée is a location scout for new Starbucks franchises, Karen is the Quality Control Director for aging Hometown Buffet Restaurants, and they met at the International Retail Foods Conference in Tampa. Karen has always been insecure, never having a long-term relationship, but now she’s in constant online and cell contact, working out all the traditional wedding details as they careen around the globe, penciling in the one date when they can both be in the same city at the same time for the nuptials.
Commissioned by Curious Theatre Company in 2005, this farce about technology, love, and personal relationships builds to a furious climax of 21st Century needs, fears, and dreams in a world where no one keeps the same address for more than a few months, but where everyone can be found with the click of a button. Where intrigues, affairs, and last-minute attempts to halt the wedded bliss spin out of control in a re-dial and instant-messaging comedy that asks the question: Do the bride and groom really need to be in the same country to go on a honeymoon?
Director:Chip Walton
Additional Funders: For Better... was commissioned by Curious Theatre Company, supported in part by the National New Play Network (NNPN). The World Premiere production is also supported by the NNPN, through the Continued Life of New Plays Fund, a cooperative venture.
Subsequent Productions
New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida – November 8-December 9, 2007
Southern Rep in New Orleans – April 2-27, 2008
News
"With few exceptions, Coble’s writing remains economic, replete with witty lines that, if not wholly cathartic, give pause over the role electronic communications play in our lives. That the characters manage to find their way back from the brink to celebrate the possibilities of love earns the production its titular recommendation.”
- Variety