2005 INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENT

Matt Casarino
Wilmington
Established Professional: Literature - Playwriting

Since launching his playwriting career in 1997, Wilmington native Matt Casarino has had 12 of his plays produced, five of them Off-Off-Broadway and others in theaters across the country. His work has won numerous awards in play festivals and has been produced locally by the Wilmington Drama League, Chapel Street Players and City Theater. The playwright is the office administrator for the Wilmington Drama League, a freelance writer and reviewer for local publications, a songwriter and a musician.

A play is a basic, almost primitive form of storytelling, so it allows for countless variations of styles and theme. I love to play around with different methods and genres… I believe the most successful scripts are primarily entertaining. I never try to consciously teach or preach in my scripts, but I've found that it's impossible to avoid exploring my own view of the topics I choose. I welcome the play format as a way of exploring my own evolving positions on interpersonal relationships [and] social and political issues.

TILLY: Poor Leonard.

ELAINE: Yes, Poor Leonard.

TILLY: And Poor Eddie.

ELAINE: Poor Eddie?

TILLY: Sure. Poor Eddie.

ELAINE: Eddie left you, Tillie….

TILLY: I know, but…

ELAINE: You shouldn't even think of him and Leonard at the same time. Leonard was a man, a real man! A prince! He took good care of me and he didn't run around and he died a hero!

TILLY: He died a hero?

ELAINE: That's right, a hero!

TILLY: I thought he had a heart attack while fishing.

ELAINE: Yes, but he landed the fish! He refused to give up! Even when his arm was burning and his heart was on fire he kept on reeling that fish in. You know, he was dead by the time his friends got to him, but that fish was still flopping on his chest, still on his hook. That's what I mean by hero.

TILLY: I didn't know that. What kind of fish?

ELAINE: Rainbow trout.

TILLY: I love rainbow trout! Did you cook it?

ELAINE: Tilly! Of course not! Did you cook it. What's the matter with you?

TILLY: Well, I don't know. Did you keep it? I thought you could preserve fish and mount them on the wall?

ELAINE: No, Tilly. I didn't keep the fish.

TILLY: Oh. I understand, it would have been too painful.

ELAINE: No…I wasn't allowed. It was too small, they had to throw it back.

TILLY: Oh my.

ELAINE: But you see? That only proves my point further. Leonard didn't care that it was small. A fish is a fish, and when you're fishing, your job is to bring them in. And so he did. He did his job right up until the point where his big ol' heart just gave out on him. (She sniffles a bit.)

Excerpt from "Eddie"
by Matt Casarino

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