Del Fidanque

Del Fidanque

Del Fidanque*
A DIFFERENT VOICE.
During my graduate work with Jacques Burdick, my mentor at Adelphi's Pillory Theatre, we experimented with performances that referenced Grotowski, Brook and Brecht. Jacques even created a special role for me (The Interlocutor) in Brecht's THE GOOD WOMAN OF SETZUAN. Twelve years later, with that same commitment and energy he also mentored Jonathan Larson...
Del Fidanque*
A DIFFERENT VOICE.
During my graduate work with Jacques Burdick, my mentor at Adelphi's Pillory Theatre, we experimented with performances that referenced Grotowski, Brook and Brecht. Jacques even created a special role for me (The Interlocutor) in Brecht's THE GOOD WOMAN OF SETZUAN. Twelve years later, with that same commitment and energy he also mentored Jonathan Larson, and encouraged him to keep writing and creating no matter where the work led him. Sadly, Jonathan never lived to see his work gain universal acceptance, dying just before the opening of the very first NY Theatre Workshop production of RENT. A year before Jacques left the planet, and many years after my time at Adelphi, Jacques told me that the most important thing I can do is to continue to express what's in my heart and not be afraid of where it goes. "Just let it stretch like pasta, he said. Keep going! Don't quit! Someone, somewhere will recognize your work. You're such a good writer!" Jacque's spirit is still with me, providing me with the energy and commitment needed to carry on, and persist with messages to hundreds of theatres, colleges, universities, and producers.

There have been multiple AEA Readings of my plays at the Dramatists Guild and MTC Studios in Manhattan, and one Equity Special Appearance Workshop production in New York's Hudson Valley, but no fully developed productions.

Above all, my wish for anyone reading this is that you and everyone close to you are and continue to be well.

Del Fidanque*

*Member, Dramatists Guild of America/PEN, AEA/SAG/AFTRA

Plays

  • GALLERIA : MODERN ART SATIRE THRILLER
    A senior drama professor at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, had this to say about the sample abstract of the play:

    I've read the sample and was definitely hooked! I love the world-building and the way we find out more about how the society operates, the character dynamics and their (hidden) feelings or desires - it's done organically and kept me wanting to find out more...
    A senior drama professor at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, had this to say about the sample abstract of the play:

    I've read the sample and was definitely hooked! I love the world-building and the way we find out more about how the society operates, the character dynamics and their (hidden) feelings or desires - it's done organically and kept me wanting to find out more about the world of the play and its characters (and to taste the artwork!).

    GALLERIA is a play that is adaptable to either film or TV. It deals in the fantastic, and could be a commercial as well as artistic success. A brief synopsis: Two older couples at an isolated exurban gallery find themselves bidding on outrageous works of modern art. After some superficial ramblings things devolve into hurt, anger, fear and a wild ride to Tristan da Cunah to escape the authorities, including Interpol. Tristan da Cunha is an isolated island in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between southern Africa and South America.
  • BOARDER: EXCELLENT FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES LARGE CAST OF 22 CHARACTERS
    A young teenage boy is sent away to a Boarding School against his will. On the very first day he encounters mean spirited peers as well as “MASTERS”. Masters is another word for teachers, only, unlike public school teachers in most U.S. cities, they are at the school full time 24/7.
    The boy’s journey through this horrific experience also comes with some gratifying moments from the more humane...
    A young teenage boy is sent away to a Boarding School against his will. On the very first day he encounters mean spirited peers as well as “MASTERS”. Masters is another word for teachers, only, unlike public school teachers in most U.S. cities, they are at the school full time 24/7.
    The boy’s journey through this horrific experience also comes with some gratifying moments from the more humane inhabitants of this environment. This story contains more sadness than humor, but also celebrates hope, and demonstrates that with persistent effort, one can rise above the most appalling experiences in life.
  • Frederick and Louise
    FREDERICK AND LOUISE PERIOD DRAMA READY FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING TAMMY RYAN'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTS AND ASSISTANCE

    Tammy Ryan https://www.tammyryanplays.com/ an award-winning, Pittsburgh-based writer and resident playwright at New Dramatists, who confronts contemporary social issues through the lens of personal relationships, has been helping me to develop this text. Her plays have...
    FREDERICK AND LOUISE PERIOD DRAMA READY FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING TAMMY RYAN'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTS AND ASSISTANCE

    Tammy Ryan https://www.tammyryanplays.com/ an award-winning, Pittsburgh-based writer and resident playwright at New Dramatists, who confronts contemporary social issues through the lens of personal relationships, has been helping me to develop this text. Her plays have been performed for audiences across the country as well as internationally, and her kind and patient insights have moved the drama forward. For those who haven't read the current draft yet, here is a quick synopsis:

    FREDERICK AND LOUISE: Historical drama (1876) is about an unusual Vanderbilt couple: Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt. Their early lives were full of stress because Willie, Frederick's overbearing father and the son of Cornelius, was rigidly paternalistic and attached to the uncompromising norms of the period. The fact that Louise was about to be divorced, 12 years older than Frederick and was unable to bear children was anathema to William. The couple went ahead anyway and had a beautiful and long lasting marriage.

    Unfortunately the politics of 1876 were eerily similar to what we are facing now. Even though Lincoln and the Union finally triumphed over the Confederacy in April of 1865, the sting of War bubbled over 11 years later with Lee threatening to invade Washington if Reconstruction was not dismantled. Of course that is exactly what happened in the Compromise of 1876, and we are still dealing with the effects and horrors of that mistake, most notably our own Insurrection of January 6, 2021. The historical aspect of the play is an integral part of the narrative.

    There hasn't been much written about Frederick and Louise. I spent many hours at the National Park Service pouring over written texts and audio tapes of servants, relatives and friends of the couple, but the details are scant. As a result this is a play based on true events but a lot of the text is fiction. In my proposals to producers I advise that this play could be turned into a PBS series. The Vanderbilts need to be heard from and here is your chance to begin the adventure.

  • OFF LINE by Del Fidanque and Scott Klavan
    In an offbeat comic world, internet and cell service collapse, and a family is forced to confront their relationships to each other, and themselves. Act I is set in a city, where middle-aged parents Mummy and Daddy, estranged by conflicts within their Catholic/Jewish marriage, and a traumatic injury to their oldest son Harry, are briefly thrown back into contact and passion by the loss of technology. Their...
    In an offbeat comic world, internet and cell service collapse, and a family is forced to confront their relationships to each other, and themselves. Act I is set in a city, where middle-aged parents Mummy and Daddy, estranged by conflicts within their Catholic/Jewish marriage, and a traumatic injury to their oldest son Harry, are briefly thrown back into contact and passion by the loss of technology. Their youngest son, misfit Tommy, and the girl of his dreams, smart, capable Ariella, suffer greatly without their phones. Eventually, unable to communicate positively, Mummy and Daddy’s marriage collapses, leaving Tommy and Ariella to face this new world without adult supervision. Act II shifts to 35 years later: tech is long gone and an older Tommy and Ariella now live in a rustic cabin, happily hunting their own food, and entertaining themselves; they have learned to interact and love without machines to distract them. But when they are visited by their grown daughter Eliana, working in the city, they get warnings that the outside world, in the form of desperate people unable to cope with a world without technology, is on its way to disrupt their happy home. Tommy, afraid to face down this threat, receives guidance from the spirit of his late brother Harry, to defend his family.
  • WILLOW-SUPERHERO
    Young man from Brooklyn refuses to become a lawyer or doctor and seeks a life of adventure on an off shore oil rig in Alaska. On his way to Prudhoe Bay, he meets and falls in love with Superhero Willow. Together they partner to make the world a better place. This Drama/Fantasy/Comedy combats Racism, Sexism and Anti-Semitism. The co lead, Willow, needs to be either African American, Asian American or of Latin descent.
  • WE ARE AMERICA! CELEBRATING WOMEN & WORLD WIDE DIVERSITY with music, verse, dance and song
    WE ARE AMERICA! CELEBRATING AMERICAN DIVERSITY.
    Fantastical Sketches for our Time
    Celebrating Hallie Flanagan's Vision of The Living Newspaper
    ©Del Fidanque, January 2020

    Settings: Outside a Federal Courthouse,
    The Countryside
    A Theater in Elizabethan England
    A Car and a Suburban Street Corner
    A Train Platform in Brussels and a Euro Train...
    WE ARE AMERICA! CELEBRATING AMERICAN DIVERSITY.
    Fantastical Sketches for our Time
    Celebrating Hallie Flanagan's Vision of The Living Newspaper
    ©Del Fidanque, January 2020

    Settings: Outside a Federal Courthouse,
    The Countryside
    A Theater in Elizabethan England
    A Car and a Suburban Street Corner
    A Train Platform in Brussels and a Euro Train
    A Conservative Political Action Conference: Trouble in Alabama
    A Long Island Suburban Neighborhood
    Richard Nixon And E.D.
    A Ghost of a Dollar Store
    A Very Great Sold Out Political Rally
    Characters:

    International Woman of Strength/ Henrietta Kissinger/Jack's World Customer:

    Woman of Experience/ Woman for All Ages/Mom/ Debbie Wee:

    Young Woman # 1: Italian, Yiddish Speaker / Security Guard:

    Young Woman #2: Columbia Researcher/ Daughter/Security Guard:

    Young Woman #3: French, Spanish, Portuguese Speaker/Maria:


    Old Man:

    Columbo/ Luther Strange/ Train Conductor/ Robert Bentley/ Nixon /Rod Serling/George Burns/ Truman Capote/Roy Moore:

  • THE POOR SCHLUB FROM QUEENS
    Sid is a lifetime New York Metropolitan baseball fan who watches the game on TV with the sound off and listens to the play by play on the radio. His wife, Myrna hates baseball and the effect that it has on her husband. Desperate for support and understanding, Syd begins a conversation with the host of a New York Sports Radio station. What happens next is a magical adventure that takes Sid from his modest...
    Sid is a lifetime New York Metropolitan baseball fan who watches the game on TV with the sound off and listens to the play by play on the radio. His wife, Myrna hates baseball and the effect that it has on her husband. Desperate for support and understanding, Syd begins a conversation with the host of a New York Sports Radio station. What happens next is a magical adventure that takes Sid from his modest apartment in Queens to the NY METS broadcast booth in LA. His life will never be the same.
  • WE'VE GOT JUNK
    Ever moved from your empty nest to a condo or an apartment? If yes, then you've accumulated plenty of stuff. Good stuff. Beautiful stuff. Even Priceless stuff that just won't fit into your new abode. There's so much stuff in America right now that the thrift stores and the churches are having a hard time figuring out where to put it so that you can donate it and they can sell it. Some thrift...
    Ever moved from your empty nest to a condo or an apartment? If yes, then you've accumulated plenty of stuff. Good stuff. Beautiful stuff. Even Priceless stuff that just won't fit into your new abode. There's so much stuff in America right now that the thrift stores and the churches are having a hard time figuring out where to put it so that you can donate it and they can sell it. Some thrift stores are even requiring appointments and demanding that you bring your stuff to them to examine before they let you donate.