Pamela Carter Joern
Synopsis: Whatever
Happened to Alice James

Pamela Carter Joern's play, Whatever Happened to Alice James?, explores the
vagaries of women's lives--especially women who choose to be artists--with wit
and a refreshing lack of sentimentality or self-pity.

Jane Porter and Alice James, one a modern photographer and the other dead for 110
years, meet in an unidentified space. A third woman, a silent figure lying in a bed,
haunts their conversation. Who is she? Is she one of them, and if so, what has
happened?

While this mystery unfolds, we learn more about Alice’s life as the forgotten sister
of famous brothers (Henry James and William James). We see how Jane’s fears as
an artist are linked with the illness and failures of her father. Their personal stories
are interwoven with a wide range of topics: fathers, sex, gender roles, God, the
Nebraska prairie, Waiting for Godot, the life of the artist. Their historical
perspectives clash, as do the competing strains of waltz and rock music that they
attempt to dance to. They attack and retreat, withdrawing repeatedly to a tea table
where they try to establish common ground.

While pondering where the action is taking place and how it is possible to converse
with a dead person, the audience is drawn into the cheekiness and stubborn resolve
of both characters.