RIPCORD is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

When my brother was eight years old the neighbor kid bet him two bucks that he wouldn’t shove a lima bean up his nose… the kid lost that bet… and my mother and I lost ten hours of our lives sitting in the emergency room waiting for the nurse to extract the lima bean from my brother’s left nostril. The story became funnier and funnier every time my mother told it. Except, perhaps, to my brother. But soon after the bet, my brother and the neighbor kid became lifelong friends. I’ve been thinking about this story a lot during our rehearsals for Ripcord. As the seeds of friendship can begin in the most unlikely (or painful) of circumstances. 

Today you are going to meet Marilyn and Abby. They live together. They are stubborn. They make bets. They are not friends. They are old, and beginning life’s final descent. 

Sometimes a stranger comes along at just the right moment— to give us directions, or a hug, or a good swift kick in the pants. And if we are very lucky, they challenge us to find the courage we need to pull the proverbial ripcord of our soul. And whoosh! We fly towards the heavens and realize we are floating, as light as a newborn baby. Then we peel our eyes open and we are able to see all that we have experienced through the years, all at once! Our memories drift along beside us— the good and the bad, the joy and the pain. Peals of laughter ring in our ears as anger and disappointment fade away. And only friendships remain. I’m betting on that.

- Susanne Boulle, Director

Abby Binder
Tricia Matthews* 

Marilyn Dunne
Mary Lucy Bivins* 

Scotty
Terrance Jackson 

Benjamin/Lewis/Clown
Justin Tyler Lewis*

Colleen/Woman in White
Kim Morgan Dean* 

Derek/Zombie Butler/Masked Man
Sean Campos*

*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Director
Susanne Boulle

Set Design
Derek Smith

Costume Design
Lee Alexander Martin

Lighting Design
Andrew Morehouse

Sound Design
Miles Polaski

Stage Manager
Dane Urban*

Playwright
David Lindsay-Abaire

*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.