Student Theatre Programs
Document Type
Play Program
Abstract
Program for Fun Home (September 30-October 2, 2021).
To view the photos from this production of Fun Home., please click here.
Publication Date
9-2021
Recommended Citation
Bechdel, Alison; Kron, Lisa; and Tesori, Jeanine, "Fun Home (September 30-October 2, 2021)" (2021). Student Theatre Programs. 13.
https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/st_programs/13
Comments
In 2014, the musical Fun Home premiered at the Circle in the Square Theater, where it broke box office records, won five Tony Awards, and featured the first lesbian leading character in musical theatre history. Based on Alison Bechdel’s best-selling graphic memoir of the same name, Fun Home navigates Bechdel’s childhood as she, at the age of 43, grapples with her relationship with her father and his apparent suicide.
Throughout the story, we witness Alison in three phases of her life: a nine-year-old feeling trapped by social norms, a college student discovering her sexual identity, and a fortythree- year-old writing and sketching her graphic memoir. Through Alison’s fragmented memories, we meet her father, Bruce, as he struggles to maintain the world he has created to survive. We relive Alison’s coming out story and her first lesbian relationship. And we follow her mother, Helen, as she attempts to hold herself together while the world they’ve created unravels around them.
The story is heartbreaking, and yet, all too familiar. Now, perhaps more than ever, it is crucial to show accurate depictions of queer folks, present queer art, and feature queer artists. We strive for a world in which we no longer need to share these stories for the sake of evoking change and acceptance; to educate others on the harm caused by neglect and denial of queer folks, to eradicate the need to tell stories that involve children being forced into gender roles. We look forward to the day we can celebrate and appreciate everyone and their differences. But until that day, we continue our work. We are proud and honored to present Alison Bechdel’s story. May it touch your heart and give you hope.