Description: A wise and moving comic drama about the ways some of us heed life’s wake-up calls—and the ways the rest of us ignore them.

First Produced: 2002
Date Added: 6/15/2011
Content Advisory: Strong language, nudity
Keywords: Death and the afterlife  Drama  Fantasy  Pop culture  Single Set  Mostly Male Characters  Large Cast Size 
2 Acts, 95 Minutes
3 Females, 6 Males

NOTE: Last Call is fully protected by copyright law and is subject to royalty. All inquiries concerning production, publication, reprinting or use of this play in any form should be addressed to Scott D. Edwards of Harden Curtis Associates; email: scottedwards@hardencurtis.com; phone: 212-977-8429; mail: Scott D. Edwards, c/o Harden Curtis Associates, 850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10019..

Original Production Information

Last Call was first presented by hope theatre, inc., as part of the New York International Fringe Festival in 2002 at Theater for the New City, with the following cast and credits:

David: Brett Christensen

Sheila: Christine Goodman

Jack: Jack Halpin

Carlos: R. Paul Hamilton

Karl: John Patrick Nord

Vince: Vinnie Penna

Jerry: Matthew Rankin

Kristen: Masha Sapron

Molly: Sara Thigpen

Director: Jerry McAllister

Stage Manager: Michael Minn

Choreographer: Jessica Wallenfels

Assistant Director: Stacey Plaskett

Fight Director: Vinnie Penna

Assistant Stage Manager: Melissa Welburn

Lighting Design: Jerry McAllister

Sound Design: Kelly McAllister

Set Design: Heather McAllister

Costume Design: David Jordan

Production Photographer: Laurent Girard

Production Assistant: Eric “Speed” Smith

Technical Directors for the Fringe Festival: Peter Kyte and Julia Cole

Thanks to Nicole Bradin, Leona Pickering, Clayton Pax, Jay McAllister, Alison Norris, The Present Company, Turnip Theatre Co., Elizabeth Zambetti, Theatreworks-USA, Lexington Photo Labs, (t)here magazine, Marion Fuller, Mark Mendes, Friends of Lee Winston, Kim Brown, Anthony Di Maggio, Myles Reed, Willy Elder, Kisoo Kim, Mr. and Mrs. Kokkoris, Elizabeth Reynolds, Bart Lovins, and Jack Halpin.

Review by Martin Denton

I hope it doesn’t trivialize the events of 9/11 to say that they were a wake-up call for a lot of people, but I think that’s true. It’s certainly one of the themes of Kelly McAllister’s stunning new play Last Call. Set in a bar in a suburban California town, Last Call tells the story of a group of friends who have known each other all their lives. Now in their mid-thirties, they seem to be stuck in ruts, professionally, personally, and emotionally; the dreams and ideals of their youth seem far away, if not entirely lost. Suddenly, David, the friend who "made good"—got a high-powered job and moved to New York City—returns, and like a modern-day Hickey (from O’Neill’s Iceman Cometh) he sets out to free his barfly friends from the illusions that have them trapped.

Trouble is, David’s pals’ illusions are achingly, bitterly real: they’re the soiled fabric of real life—unrequited love affairs, unsatisfying jobs, unhappy marriages. David works hard to shock these people out of their inertia (one of the things he does is take off all his clothes; there is a bit of frontal nudity in this play). His own catharsis came three months after the World Trade Center attacks, when he contemplated suicide on a subway platform; after all the carnage and loss, he thought, how could buying and selling and talking and trading matter?

David’s reappearance in town catalyzes everybody into violent reaction, though how much finally changes among them is uncertain. McAllister shrewdly keeps David somewhat shadowy; the protagonist of the play is probably Jerry, the friend whose life seems to be most stunted (his big news during the past ten years was that he moved out of his parents’ house into their garage). And the leading character of Last Call is neither of the above: he’s a sad, damaged fellow named Jack, another friend, who lost the love of his life in a car crash fifteen years before and has never quite recovered. Space doesn’t permit me to introduce the rest of the circle to you here; suffice to say that McAllister has created people we understand and care about.

Last Call is beautifully written: it’s messy and poetic, like life. This production, directed by Jerry McAllister and produced by Hope Theatre, is spectacularly good. The cast is excellent: Jack Halpin (Jack), Matthew Rankin (Jerry), Brett Christensen (David), and Christine Goodman, R. Paul Hamilton, John Patrick Nord, Vinnie Penna, Masha Sapron, and Sara Thigpen. This one deserves a life after FringeNYC (but go ahead and see it now, just in case.)

reviewed at the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival

Excerpt from Last Call

JERRY

I had a really weird dream last night.

VINCE

(Searches his pockets for a pack of cigarettes.) “Say bud, can you help a fellow American who’s down on his luck?”

JERRY

I was getting married.

JACK

You’re getting married?

VINCE

Anybody got a cigarette?

JERRY

I’m not getting married.

VINCE

Who said you were?

JERRY

Jack.

VINCE

Jerry’s getting married?

JACK

That’s what he says.

JERRY

I said I dreamed last night I was getting married.

VINCE

“I dreamed last night I got on the boat to heaven.”

JACK

I dreamed about Sheila last night. The first night she came back.

VINCE

Shut the fuck up.

JACK

She said I had a nice butt. Then she went elsewhere. When is it?

JERRY

What?

JACK

The wedding!

CARLOS

What wedding?

JACK

Jerry’s getting married.

CARLOS

To who, Kristen?

JERRY

No.

VINCE

“It’s a nice day for a white wedding.”

JACK

You should tell Karl before the wedding.

JERRY

Jack, there is no wedding.

VINCE

Who’s got some ones for the jukebox?

JACK

I paid for the last set.

JERRY

Jack, I paid for the last set.

VINCE

I paid for the last set, moron. I pay for every set. Carlos, some change please?

JERRY

Let me tell you about my dream.

VINCE

Let me tell you about my dream. It’s all about a wonderful world where I don’t have to hear about your dreams.