PIGGIE, PIGGIE, DUMB, DUMB, DUMB - 2024 Director's Cut - Charles Manson Theatrical Play - FULL SHOW

PIGGIE, PIGGIE, DUMB, DUMB. DUMB is a one-man play that was written, produced, directed and performed by Michael James Fry on March 11th and 12th, 1986, in the Celebration Theatre – (now called the Herbst Theatre) – at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. This show was created as an Acting Thesis Project to fulfill requirements to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in the College of Liberal Arts at WSU; and poses the question of whether or not Charles Manson and his “Family” are products of society.

If you were to watch the original performance tapes of the show, you’d see a great many on-screen blank spaces that occurred by sheer happenstance. This is because the use of character voiceovers accompanied by an ongoing [old-school] two-machine slide show were prominent throughout the entire production. This 2024 Director’s Cut Edition of the show was created to solve the problem of those many blank spaces that appear in the original performance tapes; and it features almost all of the original slide images seen in the show along with new computer graphics created by Phillip Thies.

STAGE MANAGER - Tom Gunning
LIGHTING DESIGN - Jimbo O'Neil
LIGHTING OPERATOR - Gayle Layne
SOUND OPERATOR - Tom Gunning
VISUAL SLIDE OPERATOR - J'Von Pierce
BACKSTAGE CREW - Tony Barnett, Brad Winters
PROJECT ADVISOR - Robert Britton

MUSIC:

REVOLUTION 9 / A DAY IN THE LIFE – The Beatles
NEVER LEARN NOT TO LOVE – The Beach Boys (written by Charles Manson)
HELTER SKELTER – Motley Crew
CEASE TO EXIST – Charles Manson
Oher musical clips written and performed by Michael James Fry

All other music and sound effects written and created by Iron City:
Michael James Fry & David Matthieu

2024 Director's Cut computer graphics by Phillip Thies

SPECIAL THANKS GOES TO:

The Wright State University Department of Theatre Arts, 1986

The Wright State University Television Center
The Wright State University Media Arts Center
Roberta – Project Photographer

All the "Manson Family Be- In” people
All the girls who worked on Charlie’s vest
All the people who recorded the voiceovers

Vincent Bugliosi
CBS Television
Curt Gentry
Robert Hendrickson
Ed Sanders

DISCLAIMER:

This show was never a perfect production; though it was presented with FREE admission and both performances were “Standing Room Only.” It was well-received by the public and the head of the Acting Faculty, Robert Britton, commented that “it was the best one-person show he’d ever seen”.)

I was only 21 years old when I performed this show; and looking back nearly 40 years later, I can see the inexperience in my acting; however, I would stress that this show was researched in 1985 and performed in 1986 – and we didn’t have the internet in those days like we do, today. Therefore, regarding the acting of the character of Manson, for reference I was limited to a few books, one magazine interview, the 1976 made-for-TV movie HELTER SKELTER and the Robert Hendrickson documentary called MANSON; and I simply didn’t know how Manson spoke or behaved. I was unaware of his deeply-rooted personal anger and blatant contempt for society. I didn’t know about the gibberish he sometimes uses to covey an idea, or the weird stylized dancing or the outright threats he would often voice. Had I known about these things in 1985-86, I would have played the role quite differently.

CHARLIE’s POEM (from the end of the show):

“Piggies come and piggies go.
Funny thing is that piggies don’t know
When to shut up and when to ask why
But most of all, piggies should die.

“They run their world with laws and rules;
The sad thing is they’re all dumb fools.
All they want is more to gain;
But who can live in a world of pain?

“Big cars, big houses with rooms to spare –
Piggies have money, so what do they care?
Piggie, piggie, dumb, dumb, dumb.
Don’t you know your time will come?”

*What do you think? Was Manson and his "Family" a product of society? Please leave a comment below as your opinions are welcome.

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