A Nervous Smile

A Nervous Smile is a play written by John Belluso that was originally commissioned by the Actors Theatre of Louisville and opened March 4, 2005 for the 29th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. It was originally directed by David Esbjornson and starred Sean Haberle as Brian, Maureen Mueller as Eileen, Mhari Sandoval as Nic, and Dale Soules as Blanka. Unseen characters include heavy reference to Brian and Eileen's child Emily and Nic's son Dominic, both of whom have severe cerebral palsy as well as to Nic's ex-husband and Blanka's adult daughter. The play is set in a present day Manhattan apartment.

Brian: Husband to Eileen in his late 30s, a college professor and failed novelist. Throughout the play he struggles to understand his place as father to a child with cerebral palsy and also grapples with his relationship to his wife and to the woman he is having an affair with.

Eileen: Wife to Brian in her early 40s. A multi-millionaire from investing in her father's company, she is snobbish, alcoholic, and regularly pops pills (Vicodine and Oxycontin being the two primarily mentioned and utilized drugs). She doesn't have any desire to be raising a child with cerebral palsy but also feels a motherly instinct to remain with Emily that Brian doesn't appear to feel.

Nic: A single mom who was once good friends with Eileen. She is now having an affair with Brian. She works as a lawyer who can hardly support her son Dominic, who has severe cerebral palsy. She initially agrees to run away with Brian but freezes up at the last moment and decides she must stay with her son.

Blanka: Brian and Eileen's maid in her late 50s. She is originally from Russia and is the one who actually cares for Emily. Blanka knows Emily's secrets and is the only character in this play to acknowledge Emily as a real person.

The play begins with Brian, Eileen, and Nic returning to Brian and Eileen's apartment in Manhattan. They've just come from the funeral of a child from the Cerebral Palsy Support Group that the three attend. They stopped at a bar on their way home and seem to show an overall lack of empathy for the family of the child that passed. There are clear tensions among the three and while Eileen is out of the room it is revealed that Brian is having an affair with Nic. You then find out that offstage Emily is having a seizure and Eileen once again exits to calm her daughter. While she is away Brian admits his and Eileen's plan. He tells Nic of his dreams to live with her in Buenos Aires and this can happen because Eileen is going to grant him a divorce as well as half of his money ($10 million) and a promise that they will never see one another again. The couple have planned to abandon Emily at the emergency room in the middle of the night. Brian wants Nic to come with him and insists that she call Dominic's father to have him pick up their son so Nic can run away with Brian. The act ends with Eileen returning to the living room and encouraging Nic to go with the plan and to love Brian. Just before the blackout, Nic agrees to go.

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