SYNOPSIS: “I'm Not Rappaport” is a Tony Award-winning play by Herb Gardner about two elderly men, the Jewish Nat Moyer and the African-American Midge Carter, who meet on a park bench in New York's Central Park, sharing tall tales and resisting attempts to be put into a home for the aged. The play explores themes of aging, urban life, and the struggle for independence, blending humor with poignant commentary on how society discards the elderly.
PERFORMANCE DATES: Fri and Sat 8:00 PM MAY 1,2 8,9,16 / Sat May 9 - 2:00 PM, Sun May 17 – 2:00 PM
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:
MIDGE CARTER - Male, 50s+ (plays 80), Black An elderly Black man clinging desperately to his job as the night superintendent of a Manhattan apartment building on the brink of conversion to condos.
NAT MOYER - Male, 50s+ (plays 80), Caucasian / Jewish An elderly white Jewish social justice crusader and magnificent spinner of tales. Nat has reinvented himself countless times and spends his days in the park loudly calling out injustice wherever he finds it..
DANFORTH - Male or Female, late 20s–early 40s A polished, ambitious yuppie and the designated hatchet person for the building owners..
GILLEY - Male, 20s–early 30s A fast-talking bully who extorts “protection” money from park denizens who fear being mugged by predators—which, of course, includes Gilley himself.
THE COWBOY - Male, 30s–40s A Stetson-hatted, fringed-jacketed drug dealer who prowls the park for customers. Cynical, ruthless, and intimidating.
LAURIE - Female, 20s–30s A damaged but resilient aspiring artist struggling to break her addiction and escape The Cowboy’s wrath. She owes him a significant amount of money..
CLARA - Female, 30s–50s Nat’s daughter. She long ago abandoned the crusade. Clara wants stability, and above all wants her father to stop fighting the world and grow old peacefully.
