by Phillip Morton
University of Oregon
Fall 2011
Directed and Dramaturged by Brian Cook
Scenic Design by Michaela Hager
Costume Design by Jessica Carr
Lighting Design by Jerry Leach
Sound Design by Karl Metz
Technical Direction by Janet Rose
Stage Management by Rachael O'Rourke
CAST
James: Derek Verhoest
B: Hannah Hogan
Roman: Andrew Poletto
Annabel: Sarah Ruggles
Peppermint Mocha: Emilie Martz
Quinn: Brittany Dorris
Chino: Martin Diaz-Valdes
P.Lone: Ryan Dougherty
Captain: Josh Lange
Oh: Colin Keating
Ah: Maddy Weatherhead
Peppermint Mocha is the story of James, the anonymous writer of the popular blog, “Peppermint Mocha,” who reads body language to create fantastic stories of customers he sees in his local coffee shop. Innocuous at first, the stories begin to pull James in, and he begins having trouble knowing what is real and what is fantasy. He also sees a beautiful young woman who drinks peppermint mochas, but he can’t connect with her. Featuring a whole host of characters from the commedia dell’arte tradition, the play raises compelling questions about the borders between fantasy, insanity and love.
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| Chino and Quinn host a radio show, "Hot Coffee." They are impressed by a new blog ("Peppermint Mocha") where the writer writes about people he sees in his local Czarbucks. |
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| In the Czarbucks, everyone listens to the Captain. |
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| P Lone has a bad reaction to a marijuana-laced brownie he buys from the barista, B. |
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| We disappear into one of the "Peppermint Mocha" blog entries, where Roman, the Czarbucks barista, is at the mercy of an unbearable director and his wife. |
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| The "Peppermint Mocha" blogger, James, writes the blog entry as we see it appear onstage. |
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| The director's wife is having an affair with the costume designer. |
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| James, unhappy with that decision, decides she should be in love with the set designer instead. |
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| In the Czarbucks, James is in love with a girl who orders peppermint mocha lattes. |
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| Annabel, a strange woman with a camera, interrupts James' first meeting with the girl he loves. |
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| James writes a blog entry about Annabel, set in a circus. |
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| Well, a bizarre circus/evening party. |
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| Annabel, overcome by drink and drugs, is carried offstage. |
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| Quinn participates in the merriment. |
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| All the sudden, the circus is interrupted by a kiss between James and his girl, the one who orders peppermint mochas. They enter a kind of limbo and have their first real conversation. |
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| Back in the Czarbucks, B convinces Roman that Oh and Ah will buy pastries if he does a striptease for them as entertainment. They run in terror. |
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| The girl enters the coffee shop, and James talks to her. |
