Every so often, I get an update from Dramatists Publishing and Samuel French as to what scripts they've acquired to help keep somewhat current with theatre. In checking my email over the weekend, I saw such a notice; this one from Dramatists. And in that notice was the title A Contemporary American's Guide to a Successful Marriage (c) 1959 by Robert Bastron. Oh, I've got to read about this! [click]
"In retrospect, the 1950s were a lot like Bizarro World: a period when much of what seemed right turned out to be wrong, and much of what was considered bad turned out to be wonderful. That's the very solid foundation for this play, which focuses on two Iowa couples who get married "by the book" and then live to regret it…The script by Robert Bastron is funny and smart throughout." —HYReviews.com. "A hilariously compelling and earnest story." —NYTheatre.com. "A very funny play…Robert Bastron's script gets a lot of laughs." —CurtainUp.
It goes on to say the story is played out like the how-to films of the era, you know the ones I mean. I knew almost immediately what kind of look I would do to promote the show.
There are some industrious folks out there who design the craziest typefaces, some have nothing to do with text, they're illustrations. Several have done some retro looks from the 1950s: people, and one with sci-fi images. Here's what I've got so far ...
I tried a white background, but the pastels pop more on black, more so than I think a darker blue or pink would on white (or black). The two typefaces are reminiscent of those found in the 1950s. The faces are from one of the retro fonts, with a little tweaking. For some reason, the winking woman makes me think there's a little something extra in the man's coffee, like arsenic. Although, I wish there was one with a man smoking a pipe, that would really seal it. I'll keep looking.
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