a short play cycle in two parts
4m, 2w
Exterior/Interior
Includes She's Standing Behind Me, Above the Mountains, Cowboy Music, Osceola Cries, The Sexy Daughter Cheyenne, Blue Savage, The Death Wrestler, The Lonesome Blue, and The Prayer for Heaven
This one-evening short play cycle features nine stories set in various areas of Walstone County, Alabama. She's Standing Behind Me tells the story of Tally and his dog Blue as they await the return of the love of Tally's life. Tally's story becomes a turning point for the young couple in Above the Mountains as the vibrant, youthful Kay challenges Randall's fear of heights on a hiking trip. The monologue Cowboy Music finds Randall's uncle Mel mourning the tides turning from whiskey & boots to bottled water & sneakers in his older age and also the plight of Country/Western Music. Mel's former neighbor Gutrie is the subject of Osceola Cries and The Sexy Daughter Cheyenne. In the former play, Cullen is dying of cancer. Gutrie visits him and his son Jake at a breakfast café. Cullen is slowly dying of cancer, which becomes prescient as Cullen and Gutrie eulogize the old South. In the latter play, Gutrie is a changed man following Cullen's death and he visits a former lover to repent for what he sees as his selfish love. Then, we find ourselves in the darker areas of Walstone, where two jaded drifters meet at a local honky-tonk in Blue Savage. From there, we meet Teluride and his grandson Temmickey in a life-and-death struggle as Teluride teaches him the ways of the world in The Death Wrestler. Finally, we move to the story of Tanner Fox, who has left the South for the world of New England to escape the family and friends he's really never known. He writes home to his brother Manelle when he finds out his brother has taken the love of Tanner's life, Marnia. The love triangle of The Lonesome Blue is portrayed through interweaving monologues as the characters attempt communication. But, when Manelle is killed in an accident, Tanner returns home to re-discover his roots and Marnia. The Prayer for Heaven concludes the cycle with the hope that Tanner and Marnia may finally be united. From tender stories of families divided to tales of Southern people trying to shed their identity, this cycle speaks to the experience of the South while retaining a universality that touches us all.