Description: Chris Harcum turns his life in high school into a John Hughes' movie, peppered with '80s references, in this bittersweet solo comedy.

First Produced: 2006
Date Added: 6/15/2011
Content Advisory: Adult language and strong content. '80s references
Keywords: Comedy  Coming of age  Death and the afterlife  Meta  Pop culture  Religion and spirituality  Rock and roll  Satire/Parody  Characters are mostly young adults  Families  Memoirs  Movies/film/TV  Single Set  Solo Play  Naturalism/Realism  Sex  Mostly Male Characters  Large Cast Size 
1 Act, 60 Minutes
7 Females, 22 Males

From the Playwright:

One nice thing about reconnecting with people from your past is how each of you will remember things differently. A comment or a moment from the past may have seared itself into you but be of little or no importance to the other person.

The title for this piece came to me several years before I began working on it. It is a very personal piece for me. So much so I needed to fictionalize a number of things. In turning my life in high school into a John Hughes movie, I changed everyone’s name into a reference to a song, a film or other trivia from the 1980s. I had to blend aspects of different people into single characters, something I wouldn’t do if this were a novel. On the plus side, it made it easier for the audience to remember which character was speaking when I performed all of them.

The idea to use the ‘80s references came from the actual name of my garage rock band in high school. We had gone through many names in preparing to audition for our school’s talent show. We were close to using Detention Boys--or Boyz because that would rock more--but it was a stupid name. Somehow during an argument between that name and Elysian Fields (a name which I despised but is now the name of a legitimate band, God bless them) our lead singer blurted out “Freddy Kruger and the Elm Street Band!” Brilliant. Absolutley brilliant.

Growing up in the South gives you a special guilt for bringing up impolite things. The real-life events were in many ways much worse and more difficult to believe than what wound up in this script. Trying to put all of it in the piece became a dramatic structure nightmare. However, the fictional, reference-laden veneer of this play allowed me to dig more deeply into the difficult issues of teen pregnancy and suicide. A number of people from my time in high school took their own lives. Several did it long after we graduated.

I had some weird but fantastic experiences when I performed stacked realities from my life in front of an audience. People came out to see this thinking it would be a light laugh and were often surprised by the darker elements of this. The point of doing this piece is that everyone goes through tough times, especially in high school. There is pain, shame, and embarrassment. Some of it is funny when looked at years later. Other parts are made up of memories that must be put in their place.

The reactions were different at every performance. Some nights everything seemed hilarious. On others, there was a heavy cloud over the people in attendance. I would have to push through feeling sorry for the audience having to experience my reliving certain things. It seemed some were having flashbacks of their own. How people would speak with me after the show was equally different every night. After one performance, a friend said how rare it is to hear a guy’s perspective on these kinds of events. Maybe that had something to do with it.

This piece was performed without costume changes or scenery. Lots of sound cues, some great light cues, a t-shirt, jeans, a pair of Converses, and a chair. I put my actual yearbooks in the lobby for the audience to sign. People seemed to love that. That chair, by the way, is a great scene partner. What can I say about a scene partner that is willing to recreate the time l lost my virginity over and over again? It was always consistent and never forgot what to do. It also always garnered good notices in the reviews.

Doing several runs of this piece with a few years between each has allowed the reality of my life and the film version to blur. I matured a lot as an artist doing this piece about leaving behind my childhood. Since I wrote this play, I have been to a class reunion. Turns out the people I liked from that time grew up to be nice people. Many of the people mentioned in this were not in attendance. I know a lot of people went through things much worse than me. But we survived and we’re here, and it’s good to recognize that.

NOTE: Some Kind of Pink Breakfast 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 Rochelle at rd@indietheaternow.com.

Original Production Information

Some Kind of Pink Breakfast was first presented by Chris Harcum, as part of the New York International Fringe Festival in 2006 at The Flea Theater, with the following cast and credits:

Written and performed by Chris Harcum

Director: Bricken Sparacino
Lighting design: Maryvel Bergen
Original music and sound design: Debby Schwartz
Stage manager: Tasha Guevara
Dramaturg and graphic design: Carolyn Raship
Original theme song: "Did I Hear You Right?" by The New Kruegers. Produced, arranged, and executed by Debby Schwartz. The New Kruegers: Matty Karas: Guitar, Cheri Leone: percussion and keys, Debby Schwartz: bass, vocals, and lyrics, and Chris Harcum: vocals.
Chair: As himself.

Review by Kimberly Wadsworth

About five minutes into Chris Harcum's Some Kind Of Pink Breakfast, I realized that I have personally never been more of a target audience for a particular piece.

Inspired by a visit to a class reunion website, Harcum's solo show relates a story from his sophomore year in high school back in 1986. Harcum has a lot of fun with the '80s angle, sprinkling affectionate references throughout—he's given his high school friends pseudonyms like "Dweezil" and "Sister Christian," he mentions going to see Pretty In Pink with someone for a first date, and he describes one character's confusion by saying "they looked like they'd tried to see Dune without bringing a dictionary." As a fellow geek contemplating whether to attend her high school reunion for the class of '88 (and who still has her Joshua Tree concert t-shirt), I related to a lot of the references.

The piece isn't just an '80s kitsch fest, however. The references are there to soften the blow of a sometimes poignant—and apparently true—story of a very awkward first romance between two outsiders, and how a relationship with a very troubled girl quickly overwhelmed the 15-year-old Harcum. It's a comment about how the happy, perky image we have of high school doesn't even come close to the chaotic and confusing reality that many of us faced—and ultimately survived.

Under the direction of Bricken Sparacino, Harcum nimbly takes on numerous characters in the piece; at any given moment, he could be playing himself, his friend Dweezil, his girlfriend Molly, his mother, the bully who beats him up on the bus, or a cranky retiree who cares only about whether that Harcum kid delivers the newspaper on time. His energy is so contagious that the audience I was with eagerly played along when he asked us all to join him in performing the famous "flashback effect" from "Wayne's World" at the top of the show. Harcum has just as much fun playing along with the audience; the day I saw the show, he couldn't resist "breaking character" a few times to ad lib an extra comment in response to the audience's reaction.

This is a show for everyone who survived adolescence, but if you have a red leather tie, a "Members Only" jacket, or an oversized pastel sweatshirt lurking in your closet, you'll get a little extra out of it.

reviewed at the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival

Excerpt from Some Kind of Pink Breakfast

ME

Before I know it, she bends over, grabs me by my jacket, and pulls me in for a big, wet, sloppy tongue-in-mouth kiss that packs a wallop like a tsunami wave.

MOLLY

You know I’m crazy for you.

SLIMY DREG

Y’all look stupid together.

MOLLY

What did you say?!

SLIMY DREG

I said you look stupid kissing that dweeb.

ME

Molly’s hand connects hard across the scumbag’s face, scratching his left eye with one of her nails.

SLIMY DREG

Ow you bitch!

ME

Molly kicks him square in the jewels.

SLIMY DREG

Ooof!

MOLLY

You look pretty stupid all on your own, asshole.

(Molly locks hands with Chris and continues strolling.)

MOLLY

Are you all right? You look like someone who just came out of seeing Dune without the dictionary. You’re not embarrassed to be seen with me, are you?

CHRIS

No. No, no, no. I was just thinking he might come back is all.

MOLLY

Oh, don’t worry. You don’t grow up with five brothers (she holds up her hand to show five fingers) without learning how to take care of yourself. Besides, I won’t let anything happen to my new boyfriend.

CHRIS

Your new what?

FIRST ONE

There you two are. Anybody want some corn dog on a stick? No? Fine. So, whaddaya think about this eye shadow? Don’t I look just like Phoebe Cates from Fast Times at Ridgemont High?