Drama/ 8 Characters, 6 Men, 2 Woman/ Full Length, Two Acts

Synopsis: After Arly Banks, sick of living in poverty, runs off with a traveling book seller, his parents are determined not to let the same thing happen again. In an attempt to make life better for their daughter, Bonnie, they take to murdering travelers for their money and keep the girl a virtual prisoner in the house.

But then a handsome young stranger from St. Louis, stranded there in a storm, threatens to steal her away. The parents do him in, only to discover that he was their long-lost son. The story is based on an Ozark folk tale.

 

Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
Gary L. Blackwood
Box 215
Tatamagouche, NS
B0K 1V0
Email: garylblackwood@gmail.com

About the Playwright: Gary L. Blackwood’s first published novel, Wild Timothy (Atheneum), was a Weekly Reader Book Club selection and was translated into several languages. The Dying Sun (Atheneum) was voted Best YA Novel of 1989 by Friends of American Writers. Moonshine (Cavendish) was named a Notable Children’s Book of 1999 by Smithsonian Magazine. The Shakespeare Stealer (Dutton) was a Junior Library Guild Selection, a Scholastic Book Club selection, and one of School Library Journal’s Best Books. The American Library Association placed it on its lists of Notable Children’s Books and Best Books for Young Adults. The sequel, Shakespeare’s Scribe, is a Smithsonian Notable Book and an ALA Best Books for Young Adults.Mr. Blackwood’s stage plays have been produced in regional and university theatres. As winner of the 1993 Missouri Scriptworks, Dark Horse, a historical courtroom drama, was given a staged reading in St. Louis; the following year it won a playwriting competition at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre, where it was given a full production. His stage adaptation of Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome is published by Baker’s Plays, and an adaptation of The Shakespeare Stealerpremiered at The Kennedy Center in March, 2002.

Fateville awaits its first production.