a fantasy
in three acts
4m, 4w
Exterior/Interior
To Wander in the Dust, or Fire Nights benefited from a reading May 30, 2009 at the Children's Dance Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama. It was directed by R. Daniel Walker, with the stage directions read by Josh Clark. The cast was as follows:
| R. Daniel Walker as | Manelle Hines |
| Brandon Triola as | Larry Roundtree |
| Camille Spratling as | Bobbie Lee Turner |
| Krissy Warren as | Gwendolyn Roundtree/Austin Hines |
| Leslie Reagan Brown as | Marnia Hines |
| Ray Cole as | Zach Waynes |
| Ryan C. Tittle as | "Skinner" Brownlow |
Every Friday night is Fire Night in Walstone County, where a group of young men and women build a fire and succumb to the raw passion of the night. But, something is suddenly changing for this small group of friends who meet on the banks of Shallop Lake. The listless Manelle Fox has ended an important friendship with "Skinner" Brownlow and their frustrated bond seems to have truly broken for the first time. Manelle's girlfriend Marnia Hines tries to reach through to him, but he is inconsolable. Another union—that of Marnia's sister Austin and her secret boyfriend Zach Waynes—is building in heat and emotion. On yet another tack, Larry Roundtree is handling a newlywed wife and a mistress, both of whom long for more of a connection to him as his perception of the world is changing rapidly. This fractured group find themselves oddly connected by the Fire Night and youthful passion soon turns to great fear as "Skinner" Brownlow's body washes up on the banks of Shallop Lake. Faced with the suddenness and proximity of death, their passions escalate into deception, betrayal, accusations, and finally, truth.