Laughing Wild

Synopsis

In the first section of the play, a Woman enters and embarks on an increasingly frenetic (and funny) recital of the perils and frustrations of daily life in urban America—waiting in line, rude taxi drivers, inane talk shows and the selfish people who block the aisles in supermarkets. In particular she is incensed by a man who prevented her from buying a can of tuna fish by standing in her way—and whom she attacked in a fit of pique. In the second monologue (“Seeking Wild”) the Man appears, and while the subjects on which he expounds (nuclear waste, the rigidity of the Catholic Church, particularly in sexual matters, the threat of AIDS) may be broader in context, he also dwells on an incident in a supermarket, when a strange woman hit him over the head in the tuna fish aisle. In the final portion of the play (“Dreaming Wild”) the two protagonists meet at last and reenact the supermarket incident via six varying interpretations; tell us more fully of their overlapping dreams; and then launch into an explosively funny parody of a talk show. In the end the two find an accommodation of sorts as they come together at the Harmonic Convergence in Central Park—both still hoping to instill a sense of optimism and purpose in their lives, but both still skeptical that they will succeed in doing so.