a southern pastoral in two acts
6m, 4w
Exterior
Songs of the Valley benefited from a workshop and staged reading March 12-19, 2005 at the Visual and Performing Arts Center in Bennington, Vermont. It was directed by Ryan C. Tittle, with costume design by Terry Teitelbaum, lighting design by Oberon Redman, sound design by Jeremy Wallace, original music by Elizabeth Kessler, and graphic design by Dan Tutor. The Assistant Director was Penn Genthner. The Stage Manager was Jeremy Wallace. The cast was as follows:
| Catherine Hessing as | Christina Shallot |
| Tom Shoemaker as | Larry Roundtree |
| Stephen Reinstein as | Matt Wabash |
| Eli Phillips as | Joe Wabash |
| Tara Mackey as | Gwendolyn Parsons |
| Emma Givens as | Darla May Roundtree |
| Sofia Alvarez as | Hilda Rae McGillan |
| Caleb Rupp as | Doctor William Roberts |
| Penn Genthner as | Cummerbatch Sayln |
| Brian Schultis as | The Reverend Samuel T. Butchell |
The residents of Walstone, Walstone County, Alabama are preparing for the return of the local golden boy Larry Roundtree from his service in the Air Force. A celebration is being planned on the banks of Shallop Lake by the crazy locals, including two society "biddy" ladies, a stern physician, a reclusive restaurant owner, and a retired minister on the run from his stint in the hospital. The preparation is interrupted by the appearance of a young nude girl swimming and singing in the lake. The siren song elicits interest from the community, but when the same girl appears before them, dressed in plain clothes and without the "stunning" features of a standard Walstone beauty, she is ignored altogether. This young girl is Christina Shallot, who has loved Larry from afar all her life. Encouraged by her only friends in the community — the Wabash brothers — she decides to face Larry for the first time. Once he arrives, Christina is dwarfed in the commotion of the party, but when the way is finally clear for them to meet, Larry reveals a secret that could destroy the hopes of a woman in the flush of young love.