Spatter Pattern
- Written by Neal Bell
- Directed by Michael Greif
NEAL BELL. Playwrights: Spatter Pattern; Raw Youth; Two Small Bodies; Breaking & Entering; On The Bum, Or The Next Train Through; Cold Sweat; and Somewhere in the Pacific. Some of his other plays include Monseter and Thérèse Raquin, and he co-wrote the screenplay adaptation for Two Small Bodies. He received his BA in English at Yale College and his MFA from the University of Iowa. He is a Professor of the Practice of Theater Studies at Duke University. (As of October 2013)
Playwrights Horizons: Grey Gardens, Spatter Pattern by Neal Bell. Recent credits include LaChiusa and Pearson's Giant (Public Theater/Dallas Theater Center); Tony Kushner's Angels in America (Signature Theatre) and The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide... (The Public/Signature); The Winter's Tale and Romeo and Juliet (Delacorte Theater). On Broadway he directed the Pulitzer Prize winning musicals Next to Normal (also at Second Stage/Arena) and Rent (also at NYTW, 1996; NWS, 2011) and Grey Gardens, receiving Tony nominations for each, and Never Gonna Dance. Michael received Obie Awards for Machinal, Rent, and Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters. Angels in America received the 2011 Lortel Award for Best Revival (As of May 2013).
Photo by Zack DeZon
When a screenwriter becomes entangled in the life of a university professor under investigation for a grisly murder, what begins as self-interest soon gives way to empathy, and a bond between men from seemingly opposite worlds deepens. An eerie, grimly funny whodunit, Spatter Pattern is a brutally honest and touching elegy about survival and the guilt that accompanies it.
Featuring
Peter Frechette
John Lavelle
Deirdre O'Connell
Darren Pettie
Playwrights: Circle Mirror Transformation, Manic Flight Reaction, Moe‘s Lucky Seven, Spatter Pattern. Broadway: Dana H (Tony Award nomination, Obie, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle awards), Magic/Bird. Off-Broadway: The Way West, Thinner Than Water (Labyrinth); By the Water, Fulfillment
Center (MTC); Judy (Page73); In the Wake (The Public), Scarcity (Rattlestick); Terminus (NYTW). Regional: Before the Meeting (Williamstown). Film: Diane, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. TV: “The Affair,” “The Path,” “Outer Range.” Awards: Obie Award for Sustained Excellent in Performance, New York Drama Critics Circle Special Citation, Lily Award.
DARREN PETTIE (Kenny). Broadway: Butley. Off-Broadway: The Milk Train
Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Collection (Atlantic Theater); This, Spatter Pattern (Playwrights Horizons); Hillary (New Georges); Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams (Primary Stages); Hobson’s Choice (Atlantic Theater); Unwrap Your Candy (Vineyard Theatre); Measure for Measure (Delacorte). Regional and festivals: How the Other Half Loves (Westport), Don’t Dress for Dinner (Royal George), The Cry of the Reed (Huntington), The Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare Festival), Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams (WTF). Film and TV: Taking Woodstock, The International, Ghost Town, Four Single Fathers, “Mad Men,” “Ringer,” “Rizzoli & Isles,” “Pan Am,” “Castle,” “Prime Suspect,” “Scandal,” “Gossip Girl,” “Cashmere Mafia,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “Without a Trace,” “Numb3rs,” “CSI,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Charmed.” (As of August 2012)
Creative Team
Mark Wendland
Scenic DesignerMiranda Hoffman
Costume DesignerKevin Adams
Lighting DesignerJill B.C. DuBoff
Sound DesignerMichael Friedman
Original MusicJudith Schoenfeld
Production Stage Manager
Credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway and the Public Theater) Unknown Soldier, The Fortress of Solitude, Love’s Labour’s Lost, and Mr. Burns. With The Civilians: Canard Canard Goose, Gone Missing, Nobody’s Lunch, This Beautiful City, In the Footprint, The Great Immensity, Paris Commune, Pretty Filthy, and The Abominables. He was the Artist-in-Residence and Director of the Public Forum at the Public Theater and Artistic Director of City Center Encores! Off-Center. He received the 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence and was honored with a star on the Playwright’s Sidewalk at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 2018.
Photos of (1) Peter Frechette and Darren Pettie; (2) Deirdre O'Connell and Peter Frechette; (3) Peter Frechette; and (4) Peter Frechette and John Lavelle by Joan Marcus.
Neal Bell's moody new play is a cautionary tale that could soothe any residual guilt over rank unfriendliness, and that proves the wisdom of obliviousness. Michael Greif's immensely stylish production drenches the writing in noirish atmosphere.