PETTIPLAYS

Banshee—Synopsis/Character Breakdown

Banshee takes place on the West Side of Manhattan in 1981. The play begins as Jerry Sullivan (Junior)

readies himself for his new job following a two month stint in an psychiatric ward. His Irish-born mother

Kit makes him breakfast, much against his will. Junior's brother Neil, a policeman, arrives to drive him to

work. Before Neil leaves, Kit implores him to look after his brother. During the ride to the NY docks Neil

discusses setting the 40-year-old Junior up with a younger woman he knows, who is also an Irish native.

Junior isn't ready. He is greeted rudely by a truck driver at his new position.

 

Months later Neil and Junior are at a Yankee game, where again Neil brings up the idea of setting Junior

up. Junior demurs, but a close call with a home run ball changes his mind. He takes Cara out to eat, and

after some initial reservations about her having a child and him being older and recently hospitalized, the

two hit it off. Junior brings Cara to the apartment he shares with his mother for a cup of tea. Kit interrupts

them and treats Cara with suspicion. Junior gets Kit to go back to bed and, despite Kit's best efforts, Cara

agrees that she and Junior should continue to see each other.

 

Kit wakes Junior in the middle of the night claiming to have been visited by her dead husband. He passed

on a one-word warning: “banshee”. Kit insists that the mythical Irish harbinger of death is Junior's new

girlfriend Cara. Jerry angrily dismisses the idea, but experiences a recurring dream where someone is

trying to help him and he cannot move. He wakes, seemingly in bed with Cara, but when he tells Cara

about what his mother said, she bolts upright in the bed and lets out an unearthly scream.

The second act begins with Neil and Junior having lunch, discussing Kit's visitation. Neil is sure Kit is

trying to discourage Junior's new relationship by making up the banshee story. Junior is not convinced,

having seen Kit's frightened reaction. Also, his dreams are becoming more troublesome: he's in an

emergency room after his suicide attempt, which turns into Kit berating him for his weakness, and ends

again in a horrible scream.

 

Junior wakes up in Cara's bed, in reality this time. He tells her he isn't ready for their relationship and is

beginning to doubt his own sanity. After another run-in with a driver, Junior meets with an admitting

psychiatrist to check himself into a hospital. While Neil is bringing Kit to visit Junior in his squad car, he

warns her to stop trying to ruin her son's relationship. Kit insists that the visitation was real, and that Cara

is dangerous. Meanwhile, Cara visits Jerry in the hospital, where he is attempting to hide from his demons

with medications. She tells him she and her daughter will wait for him, but not forever. On the way out,

Cara meets Neil and a suspicious Kit in the hallway. Cara tells Kit she would never hurt Junior, which Kit

interprets as a threat against herself.

 

Even through the medication, Junior has another disturbing dream about being at a murder scene with his

brother. It ends with a haunting phone call and another banshee scream. Junior checks himself out,

realizing he cannot hide. He returns to his apartment and tells Kit he is moving in with Cara, who is on

her way over to help him pack. With Junior in the other room and Cara on her way up to the apartment, a

desperate Kit grabs a frying pan and heads out into the hallway to confront her. There is a scream. Cara

rushes in to tell Junior that Kit fell down the stairs and isn't moving. Junior runs to care for his mother,

leaving Cara onstage alone. A small smile crosses her face.

 

Principals:

Jerry Sullivan (Junior), M, 40: A man trying rebuild his shattered life—at turns charming and

melancholy, dominated yet fighting to survive. Susceptible to his mother's guilt. His stoic exterior guards

his fear of relapsing into mental illness.

Neil, M, 38: Junior's brother, a NYC policeman. Gregarious and optimistic, but savvy. Authentically

cares for his brother and tries to help him through his struggles.

Kit, F, 57: Junior's overbearing, controlling, doting Irish mother. Eternally a martyr and convinced she

knows what is best for her son. She cares in all the wrong ways and manipulates without conscience.

Cara, F, 27: Fresh Irish young woman who becomes Junior's girlfriend. A single parent, down-to-earth,

sincere, understanding: seemingly Junior's perfect match.

Driver, M, 40+: Foul-mouthed Italian-American truck driver who initially challenges Junior at his new

job, yet grudgingly becomes friendly with him.