| Sticks and Bones | |
|---|---|
| Written by | David Rabe |
| Characters |
|
| Date premiered | 1969, November 7, 1971 |
| Place premiered | The Public Theater |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | The Nelson family home Autumn 1968 |
Sticks and Bones is a 1971play byDavid Rabe. Theblack comedy focuses on David, ablindVietnam Warveteran who finds himself unable to come to terms with his actions on the battlefield and alienated from his family because they neither can accept his disability nor understand his wartime experience. Rabe explores the conflicted feelings of many civilians during the era byparodying the idealAmerican family as it was portrayed on thetelevisionsitcomThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Beneath the perfect facade of theplaywright'sfictional Nelson family are layers ofprejudice,bigotry, and self-hatred that are peeled away slowly as they interact with their physically and emotionally damaged son and brother.
Sticks and Bones was the second play in Rabe's Vietnam trilogy, followingThe Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and precedingStreamers. A veteran himself, he wrote it while a graduate student atVillanova University, where it was staged in 1969. Theoff-Broadway production, directed byJeff Bleckner, opened on November 7, 1971 atJoseph Papp'sPublic Theater, where it ran for 121 performances. The cast includedDavid Selby as David,Tom Aldredge as Ozzie,Elizabeth Wilson as Harriet (played later byRue McClanahan),Cliff DeYoung as Rick, andCharles Siebert as Father Donald.
Critical reaction and audience response were positive, and Papp decided to move the play uptown. With Drew Snyder replacing Selby but the rest of the cast intact, theBroadway production opened on March 1, 1972 at theJohn Golden Theatre, where it ran for 246 performances.
In 1973, David Rabe wrote theteleplay for and Robert Downey Sr. directed aCBStelevision movie based on Rabe's play. The cast included DeYoung as David, Aldredge as Ozzie, andAnne Jackson as Harriet. The subject matter was so controversial half of the network's affiliates refused to broadcast the film.[1]
The play was parodied byChristopher Durang in his 1977 playThe Vietnamization of New Jersey.
In 2014,Sticks and Bones was revived atThe Pershing Square Center, with the production opening November 6.
In 2023,Sticks and Bones was revived by The Contemporary Theatre Boston, directed by Chris Cavalier and starring Dusko Petkovich as Ozzie Nelson.