A Voyage Home Nostalgia (from nostos—return home, and algia—longing) is a longing for a home that no longer exists or has never existed.
—Svetlana Boym, cultural theorist, The Future of Nostalgia
New Melville, the fictional shoreline town in New England where Ida Cuttler’s Moe’s a D*ck takes place, is a liminal space in all thinkable ways. For one thing, it’s not the setting for a literal adaptation of the famous tale of the white whale; it’s just where the play washes up against its source of inspiration every so often. Meanwhile the boundless sea gushes onto the harbor’s rusty fishing boats that are remainders from another time. As Ish returns from college to her hometown for Thanksgiving, we are taken on a journey through a rapidly changing cityscape, where local businesses are being incrementally devoured by a burgeoning conglomerate, the WHALES corporation. Amid this unsettled climate, Ish, her bosom friend Quee, and her mother Penelope are in churning waters of their own, all yearning to find a sense of home. On their quests, the characters chase this longing in literal spaces, in their bodies, their hearts and minds, and in each other. The relational, in particular, seems a most dangerous voyage. While Ish and Quee search for a safe harbor in a rekindled friendship that is growing into a passionate bond, Penelope aches to reconnect with her daughter, imploring “Call me, Ishmael” into her phone. This famous opening line of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is one of the many threads Cuttler has artfully woven into the play’s fabric. With its heartfelt exploration of a queer relationship and of Quee’s desire to find a home in a body in transition, the play pierces through the heteronormative baggage of the 19th-century American seafaring tale, whilst setting off on its own voyage. Moe’s a D*ck takes its characters on a tempestuous “Nantucket sleighride,” reminding us that as Nothing exists in itself—there is no laughter without tears, no wisdom without woe, no bliss without sorrow, and no home without longing.
—Karoline Vielemeyer, Production Dramaturg
LANGSTON HUGHES FESTIVAL OF NEW WORK | 2023–24 SEASON