Synopsis

Both "The Thanksgiving Visitor" and " Christmas Memory," the two short stories by Truman Capote which are the basis for Holiday Memories, focus on the adventures of a young boy named Buddy and his beloved best friend, a childlike elderly cousin named Sook. Set in the tiny town of Monroeville, Alabama, during the Depression, the action of the play recreates Thanksgiving and Christmas as celebrated by Buddy and Sook in the large rambling house where they live with several other distant cousins. Five actors create the whole world of the stories: two male actors play the young Buddy and his grown-up counterpart, Truman; an actress portrays Sook; and one male and one female actor portray the other members of Buddy and Sook's world, including relatives, schoolchildren a teacher, a mysterious Indian, and various neighbors.

The stories are autobiographical; writer Truman Capote is writing about his own childhood; he is Buddy, and Sook is his cousin. Young Truman (called Buddy) was left by his mother with his extended family after she divorced his father, and he was raised by these cousins from age 4 until age 10. The stories chronicle, with touching clarity, the joys and frustrations of being the only child living in this household of 3 elderly cousins.

In "The Thanksgiving Visitor" Capote recounts a particular Thanksgiving when Sook forces Buddy to invite his archenemy, Odd Henderson, to Thanksgiving dinner. Odd is the school-yard bully and regularly harasses Buddy, but Sook thinks that one must "come to terms with people like Odd Henderson and turn them into friends," When Buddy refuses to invite Odd, Sook extends the invitation herself; much to Buddy's surprise and dismay, Odd accepts. What happens on the fateful day teaches Buddy a valuable lesson about compassion and forgiveness. "The Thanksgiving Visitor" celebrated the value of friendship and the importance of generosity.

The second act introduces "A Christmas Memory" and recalls the holiday rituals that Buddy and Sook perform in anticipation of Christmas. First they make fruitcakes - 31 of them - which they send all over the country as gifts for friends of "people who've struck our fancy" like President Roosevelt or missionaries in Borneo. Next they are off the cut a Christmas tree, and all-day event that takes them through the woods of Alabama in the winter. As the anxiously awaited Christmas morning draws closer, Buddy and Sook are consumed with excitement as they labor secretly over presents for one another. "A Christmas Memory" celebrates the love of two people from different generations, the importance of tradition, the strength of friendship, and of memory to keep it all alive.

--from the IRT Play Guide