COMMITTED
A Mother A Son Civil Rights Vietnam
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SYNOPSIS
1950s housewife Rosie Gilchrist is severely burned by accident or perhaps by her own hand. Hospitalized, Rosie is rescued by a black nurse, whom she later repays by joining the nascent Oklahoma civil rights struggle. When Rosie makes plans to sell her home to a black family, she is arrested and imprisoned in a mental hospital. Carrying his own guilt for his part in her arrest, her son aches to win her freedom, but sabotages his chance of success. Nonetheless ... CAST LIST ROSIE: White female, 40s STORYTELLER, White male, 70's. MRS FULLBRIGHT: Black female, 30-60 *JOE: Rosie's son. White male, (ages 10, 15 and 20 JOHN GILCHRIST, 40s, white male REVEREND GARRELL DUNN: White male, 50s CHIEF NELSON BECKET: White male, 40s DANIEL BERRIGAN, SJ: Jesuit priest, White male, 40s SENATOR E. MELVIN PORTER: Black male. 30s * JOE maybe be played by 1 or 3 actors |
Development
DEVELOPMENT
Dramatists Guild Institute workshop, "Writing Your Personal Narrative," Donje Love, 2021
Dramatists Guild "End of Play" project - virtual reading, 2021
Dramatists Guild Institute workshop, "Cracking the Producer's Code", Roland Tec, 2021
The Gang - an ersatz collective of playwrights, reading and critique, 2021
2021 Finalist - Negro Ensemble Company of New York
2021 Oklahoma Scholar Leadership Enrichment Program - required reading
2022 Finalist - Wisconsin Wrights Playwright Competition, Forward Theatre, Madison
Ubiquitous Players, Chicago, 2022 virtual staged reading
Semi-finalist, Risk Theatre Tragic Play Competition, 2022
SETTING
A platform sits at the back or side of the stage. It is large enough to accommodate eight chairs. It might resemble a jury box or a gallery. It will be a holding area where actors who are not in a scene shall sit, observing the action onstage. There is also a small rectangular table and several other chairs that will be used in various scenes. They are moved about the stage to simulate various settings: a hospital, a home, an office, a rose garden, a campus quad, a church. Props (a pie, a garden hose, a textbook ...) are mimed.
This play is available for reading on my NPX website at - Coleman | New Play Exchange for people with memberships.
Dramatists Guild Institute workshop, "Writing Your Personal Narrative," Donje Love, 2021
Dramatists Guild "End of Play" project - virtual reading, 2021
Dramatists Guild Institute workshop, "Cracking the Producer's Code", Roland Tec, 2021
The Gang - an ersatz collective of playwrights, reading and critique, 2021
2021 Finalist - Negro Ensemble Company of New York
2021 Oklahoma Scholar Leadership Enrichment Program - required reading
2022 Finalist - Wisconsin Wrights Playwright Competition, Forward Theatre, Madison
Ubiquitous Players, Chicago, 2022 virtual staged reading
Semi-finalist, Risk Theatre Tragic Play Competition, 2022
SETTING
A platform sits at the back or side of the stage. It is large enough to accommodate eight chairs. It might resemble a jury box or a gallery. It will be a holding area where actors who are not in a scene shall sit, observing the action onstage. There is also a small rectangular table and several other chairs that will be used in various scenes. They are moved about the stage to simulate various settings: a hospital, a home, an office, a rose garden, a campus quad, a church. Props (a pie, a garden hose, a textbook ...) are mimed.
This play is available for reading on my NPX website at - Coleman | New Play Exchange for people with memberships.