Kidnapping the Bride by Frank Moher

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Comedy-Drama/ 3 Characters, 2 Women, 1 Man / Full Length, 90 minutes

Synopsis (from The Edmonton Sun): “Moher’s slice-of-life in the dead-end lane begins as a joke. Ex-boyfriend steals the bride from her own reception and hies her off to their old necking nest in the bush.

“When the bride’s younger sister, Evelyn, finds Gary and Terri settling old scores and belting back the booze, the plot twists from witty comedy into an unsettling, despondent tragedy of love blurred by the desperate need to escape.”From The Globe and Mail [Toronto]: “Moher’s dramatic strategy is to destroy the sympathy he has created for his working-class hero and to open up deeper questions about what is wrong between men and women.”

“A winning new play . . . as in his previous works, Moher shows his knack for sculpting genuine characters from stereotypes. We laugh at their inane wisecracks, flinch with their pains and we can almost taste the beer they guzzle . . . . This is a tightly written vignette, with no squandered phrases. But even when the situations are bleak and cruel, the playwright injects quick shots of wry wit.”
– The Edmonton Sun

“The best of three new plays I saw [at the PlayRites Festival] . . . . The writer skillfully manoeuvres the women onstage and off so that we clearly see the dilemma in which Gary finds himself . . . . . Moher brings the script to a close by revealing a heinous sexual episode from Gary’s past that succeeds instantly in destroying Terri’s love for him. This is a devastating moment, because the play until then has been a testimony to the tenacity of her love.”
– The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Read it Now
Performance rights must be secured before production
Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Single Lane Entertainment,
650 Little Blvd.,
Gabriola Island, B.C.,
Canada,
V0R 1X3.
Ph.: (in North America) 1-855-757-9216 or 250-247-9216
Email: info@singlelane.com
Playwright’s website: FrankMoher.com

About the Playwright: Frank Moher’s plays have been produced internationally, at theatres including South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Detroit Repertory Theatre, Round House Theatre (Silver Spring, Maryland), the Canadian Stage Company (Toronto), the Wellington Repertory Theatre (Wellington, New Zealand), Workshop West Theatre (Edmonton, Alta.), the Asolo Theater (Sarasota, Fla.), Alberta Theatre Projects (Calgary), Dodona Theatre (Prishtina, Kosova), The Mingei Theatre (Tokyo), and OmaDa Theatre (Athens, Greece). He has won a Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award for Writing (for Odd Jobs), the Edmonton Sterling Award for Outstanding New Play (for both The Third Ascent and Prairie Report,), and is published by both ProPlay and the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Frank has taught at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta (where he was a Distinguished Visiting Artist), and is currently an instructor in scriptwriting and journalism at Vancouver Island University. He has also worked professionally as a literary manager and dramaturg, and written for publications including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Saturday Night magazine, The Georgia Straight, backofthebook.ca and salon.com.

Kidnapping the Bride was first presented by Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary in January, 1991. It has been revised for posting on ProPlay.

Also by Frank Moher on ProPlay:

“Humorous and hard-hitting . . . . an often uproarious but ultimately disturbing play about realistic characters who are all dressed up with no place to go.”
– Edmonton Examiner

“An important play which deserves to be seen and talked about.”
– Edmonton Bullet