A Gaggle of Saints

by Neil LaBute

A Gaggle of Saints had 1 performance over 1 year ago (on the 30th of March 2023) at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts

This simple two hander involves two young American college students reminiscing about a trip from Boston College to Manhattan to attend a party - or ‘bash’.

John and Sue are both juniors (third year students) at Boston College and drive with friends to a black-tie ball at the fancy Plaza hotel in New York. They talk about their friends, their journey there, getting ready for the party, and also the train journey back to Boston.

Most importantly John talks about a walk he takes in Central Park with his male friends while the girls are asleep in the hotel. During this walk the young men commit an unprovoked and highly violent act of homophobia which they never refer to again.

LaBute always writes in a very direct style - in this case the two characters speak in turn but (almost) never to each other, only to the audience. We see the horrific story through two very different pairs of eyes. The writing is highly realistic - ‘how real people speak’ - and for much of the play is very funny.

The setting is very simple - just two chairs/stools and some lighting.

We will need a young man and a young woman - ideally in early 20s - with fairly good American accents. Both should be charming, engaging, fun and lighthearted. The seriousness of the crime John commits is never reflected in how he speaks about it - this is the power of the play.