a play in four scenes by Laurence Carr
Scene One: Madagascar
Scene Two: Six
Scene Three: The Furlough
Scene Four: Homefront
Characters:
Cyrus, mid-40s, a weather-beaten keeper of the Wakeville Cemetery. He is a WWI veteran and holds memories of Matty Mae Johnson, the town beauty and romantic.
Merjane, a child-woman somewhere between 13 and 18. Cyrus’s niece, a visionary. She has the gift of channeling the dead.
Six (Violet), mid-20s, a romantic, verging on a young Blanche DuBois. Sensual and flirty and doesn’t hide her sexuality. Best friends with Tweedy.
Tweedy, mid-20s. A farm girl with both feet on the ground and an edge, but with a soft side she hesitates to show. Best friends with Six.
Bill, early 20s. Recently been discharged from the Army where he served in the war in Europe. He’s battle-scarred emotionally.
The Place: The first two scenes, Madagascar and Six, take place in the Wakeville Community Cemetery. The third scene, The Furlough, takes place in a hilly field off a secondary road in southeastern Ohio. The fourth scene, Homefront, takes place in the parlor of Six’s home. Wakeville is a small town on the Ohio River at the borders of Ohio and West Virginia. The cemetery is a neatly groomed and serene plot of earth. The field for part three has a wilder untamed look. The sitting room is spare.
The Time: Late-August, 1945. Madagascar takes place mid-morning; Six takes place about Noon; The Furlough takes place about 3 PM. Homefront takes place in the late afternoon/early evening.
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Reviews of The Wakeville Stories by Laurence Carr
“Dramatist Laurence Carr has a gift for vivid characterization and for creating a concrete sense of time and place. Carr’s vignettes are closely interwoven . . . His gift for vivid characterization and for creating a concrete sense of time and place enchants. The cast is uniformly excellent.
. . . the graveyard makes an apt setting for Carr’s moving dramatization of issues dealing with war, death, and the responsibilities of the living.”
Fuse Theatre Review by Ian Thal artsfuse.org Boston, MA 6/27/15
“Playwright Carr has written a compassionate script. It introduces us to characters that we come to care about in 90 minutes.
The landscaping of the Somerville Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery with its high walls and leafy trees made a charming stage for The Wakefield Stories. The hum of bees accompanied actors’ dialogue on the effects of war on communities.
Wakeville Stories is a simple, ensemble driven piece of theatre that puts focus on interpersonal relationships and communication over elements of stagecraft. The beauty of this outdoor production lay in its capacity to entertain without the benefit of lighting or set dressing. Its simplicity did not distract the audience from its messages.
The Wakeville Stories was a fun afternoon of theatre. With a blanket, a cooler and some friends, The Matty Mae project could easily draw crowds on any summer afternoon.”
The New England Theatre Geek: Review by Kitty Drexel, June 2015 (Somerville, MA)
“ (The play) is filled with interesting, complex and intense relationships that capture characters at demanding points in their lives. The physical action is compelling and symbolic and the dialogue has a lyrical quality that emerges from the sincerity and depth of the characters’ feelings.” Michael Bigelow Dixon, Literary Manager, Actors Theatre of Louisville
The Wakeville Stories
The Play’s History: The four scenes (earlier called The Wakeville Cycle) that are The Wakeville Stories have been produced as a full-length play (with and without an intermission) and as separate one-acts in different versions.
The Wakeville Stories (current) was produced by Matty Mae productions at Davis Square Theatre and at the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Somerville, MA, June 29 and 26, and June 21 and 27, 2015, Somerville, MA. Kristin Dwyer, director
The Wakeville Stories (current draft) was produced as a staged reading by The Exchange Theatre: Saratoga’s Reader’s Theatre, April 1, 2012 at Saratoga City Tavern, Saratoga, NY. David Braucher, director.
The Wakeville Stories (current draft) was produced by the Theatre Department of SUNY New Paltz, NY in Parker Theatre, October 23-24, 2010 (four performances). Stephen Kitsakos, director
The Wakeville Stories (four scenes) was produced as a concert reading in The Black Box at SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY in May 2009. Directed by the author.
Six (an earlier version) was produced in an evening of one-acts at The Mid-American Playwrights’ Theatre, Springfield, Illinois, 1994; James Gasparin, director.
The Wakeville Stories (scenes 1, 2 and 3) was produced as a staged reading as part of the Lincoln Center Library’s SSDC New Plays Series, New York City, 1993; Charlie Hensley, director.
Over, Over There (an early version of Madagascar) was produced as part of The West Coast Ensemble’s 5th Annual Celebration of One-Acts, Los Angeles, California, 1989; John Weidner, director.
Over, Over There and Six (early versions) were produced as a staged reading as part of The American Writers’ Program at The Westbeth Theatre Center, New York City, 1985; Gavin Cameron-Webb, director.
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