Fresh Ink
02 Matt Gutschick
Welcome back to the second episode of Fresh Ink, featuring Matt Gutschick and his play Van Gogh and Me.
Van Gogh and Me is a play about the friendship between Vincent Van Gogh and Adeline Ravoux, a 12 year old girl. Adeline and her family have recently moved to Auvers, a countryside town in the northwestern part of France, for the sake of the health of the youngest member of the Ravoux family, Germaine. There Adeline finds herself without any of the familiarities of Parisian life and without her friends. Her father is preoccupied with making ends meet, her mother is worried about Germaine, the family’s ill infant; and Adeline feels forgotten and has stopped writing, one of her favorite hobbies. She encounters some local teenagers, René Secrétan and his cousin Cecile Demey, who inform her that a mad man is coming to live with Adeline and her family.
When Adeline encounters Van Gogh, who is haggard, missing an ear, the rumors of the teenagers are confirmed. Adeline runs back to them, and together they play a cruel trick on Van Gogh. When the opportunity comes for Van Gogh to report Adeline to her parents, he takes a different path, choosing instead to cover for the girl.
Rene and Cecile have plans to further torment the Dutch painter, and they rope Adeline into being an accomplice yet again. Afterwards, Adeline is racked with guilt, and she seeks out Van Gogh to apologize, attempting to make it up to him by agreeing to sit for a painting.
Adeline is taken aback by what Van Gogh produces. It’s a rendering of an older, more mature Adeline. Of an Adeline not as she is, but as she perhaps one day will be, or wishes to be. Van Gogh explains to Adeline his philosophy of capturing the truth behind things, rather than their mere likeness. Others are less charmed, though, by Van Gogh’s eccentric approach to the craft. Another painter criticizes the portrait, sending Van Gogh into a rage.
Adeline pursues Van Gogh to comfort him, but meets Rene and Cecile yet again. This time, their abuse reaches new heights when they draw a gun on the painter. Adeline, in a moment of sheer impulse, jumps in front of the line of fire. Thankfully, the gun is full of blanks, and at that moment Adeline’s parents appear, chasing the boys off and promising to tell the René’s father of what has transpired here.
They return to the inn, and all the fractious tensions that previously riddled the family begin to dissipate. The following morning, Germaine laughs for Vincent, Monsieur Arthur Ravoux agrees to keep Adeline’s portrait, and Vincent fans the creative flame of a young author within Adeline. Finally, Vincent invites Adeline to help him finish a painting.
Van Gogh and Me is a play about friendship, about bravery, and about being true to yourself. It is rich in color, expressionistic, and concerned with grace, with forgiveness. It is concerned with truth. I wept.
You can find more of Matt's work on the New Play Exchange https://newplayexchange.org/users/37934/matthew-gutschick and at https://www.matthewgutschick.com/
Opening music credit – “Lounge” by Ehrling https://soundcloud.com/ehrling/ehrling-lounge
Closing music credit – “Everything” by Kids & Explosions https://on.soundcloud.com/45nBRwFXF59ESqhG9
Special thanks to Jack Zerbe and Katt Walsh for their assistance in the excerpt performance.
Welcome back to the second episode of Fresh Ink, featuring Matt Gutschick and his play Van Gogh and Me.
Van Gogh and Me is a play about the friendship between Vincent Van Gogh and Adeline Ravoux, a 12 year old girl. Adeline and her family have recently moved to Auvers, a countryside town in the northwestern part of France, for the sake of the health of the youngest member of the Ravoux family, Germaine. There Adeline finds herself without any of the familiarities of Parisian life and without her friends. Her father is preoccupied with making ends meet, her mother is worried about Germaine, the family’s ill infant; and Adeline feels forgotten and has stopped writing, one of her favorite hobbies. She encounters some local teenagers, René Secrétan and his cousin Cecile Demey, who inform her that a mad man is coming to live with Adeline and her family.
When Adeline encounters Van Gogh, who is haggard, missing an ear, the rumors of the teenagers are confirmed. Adeline runs back to them, and together they play a cruel trick on Van Gogh. When the opportunity comes for Van Gogh to report Adeline to her parents, he takes a different path, choosing instead to cover for the girl.
Rene and Cecile have plans to further torment the Dutch painter, and they rope Adeline into being an accomplice yet again. Afterwards, Adeline is racked with guilt, and she seeks out Van Gogh to apologize, attempting to make it up to him by agreeing to sit for a painting.
Adeline is taken aback by what Van Gogh produces. It’s a rendering of an older, more mature Adeline. Of an Adeline not as she is, but as she perhaps one day will be, or wishes to be. Van Gogh explains to Adeline his philosophy of capturing the truth behind things, rather than their mere likeness. Others are less charmed, though, by Van Gogh’s eccentric approach to the craft. Another painter criticizes the portrait, sending Van Gogh into a rage.
Adeline pursues Van Gogh to comfort him, but meets Rene and Cecile yet again. This time, their abuse reaches new heights when they draw a gun on the painter. Adeline, in a moment of sheer impulse, jumps in front of the line of fire. Thankfully, the gun is full of blanks, and at that moment Adeline’s parents appear, chasing the boys off and promising to tell the René’s father of what has transpired here.
They return to the inn, and all the fractious tensions that previously riddled the family begin to dissipate. The following morning, Germaine laughs for Vincent, Monsieur Arthur Ravoux agrees to keep Adeline’s portrait, and Vincent fans the creative flame of a young author within Adeline. Finally, Vincent invites Adeline to help him finish a painting.
Van Gogh and Me is a play about friendship, about bravery, and about being true to yourself. It is rich in color, expressionistic, and concerned with grace, with forgiveness. It is concerned with truth. I wept.
You can find more of Matt's work on the New Play Exchange https://newplayexchange.org/users/37934/matthew-gutschick and at https://www.matthewgutschick.com/
Opening music credit – “Lounge” by Ehrling https://soundcloud.com/ehrling/ehrling-lounge
Closing music credit – “Everything” by Kids & Explosions https://on.soundcloud.com/45nBRwFXF59ESqhG9
Special thanks to Jack Zerbe and Katt Walsh for their assistance in the excerpt performance.