About the Playwright:
B.A. Hite is Barbara Allen Hite, accomplished writer, teacher and Theatre Arts professional. Her Honors’ degrees from Mary Baldwin College and Johns Hopkins University, led to a long career in secondary and college teaching. She currently shares her talents at Tidewater Community College in Virginia.
Drawing on her droll observations of life, Bobbi began a prolific playwriting career over four decades ago. She earned Playwriting Fellowships from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and has won The Stanley Drama Award as well as the ACE New Plays Contest. Her full-length and one act plays have enjoyed numerous staged readings and productions.
About the Play:
Birdwatchers
A slice-of-life Comedy
By B. A. Hite
ABOUT THE PLAY:
A shy and precise woman is paired with an outgoing, free-spirited writer in this delightful one act set in a forest during a search for the rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The play has won many awards, including The Actor’s Workshop in Florida, and been produced at Chrysler Hall, and the Generic Theatre, both in Norfolk, Virginia; the Oak Grove Theatre and Wolf Trap Farm, both in Northern Virginia.
THE CHARACTERS
He: a freelance writer
She: a birdwatcher
THE SCENE
A forest clearing
TIME
Early morning, the present
FROM THE PLAY:
SHE: Right. Well now. Good. So, out with the equipment. (Goes to her spot, gets stuff. Pause, watching him. ) You were assigned to this location?
HE: Well, no, not that I know of. It just seemed like a likely spot. Shady, not too shady. Quiet. It wasn’t that I had any particular kind of spot in mind beforehand. I was just looking for a spot when I got here. I thought this seemed like a good one.
SHE: But, you do have your card?
HE: My card?
SHE: Your Audubon card, for identification.
HE: Oh. No, I don’t. I just heard...this morning...you know, spur of the moment.
SHE: (Standing. Laughs a bit) Oh, it’s easy to forget on the spur of the moment. Well (setting up) I don’t suppose it matters this time...about the card. (Pause. Watches, then..) I’ll bet this is your first experience.
HE: Yeah. That’s right. First time out!
SHE: Well, you’re going to really enjoy it, I’m sure. (She goes to sit)
HE: Yep. I didn’t know what to bring along in the way of equipment, you know. (Indicating all his stuff. Sits )
SHE: Right. I think we always feel so much more at home with some of our own things around us. (Pause. She gets tissue for nose. )
HE: Are you native to this area, Miss...Finch?
SHE: Wren..No, no, Wren... Alice Wren.
HE: (Laughing, overlapping her correction) Oh. I’m sorry.SHE: (Also laughing) It’s all right. People often get it confused. Yes, I was born ‘n raised...just down the road. (Pause. She gets a book out, marks page.)
HE: What’s that book you have there?
SHE: Oh, this? Oh, it’s just my official Audubon Field Guide. I’m afraid not to use it.
On the only occasion I ever used something else, I had a terrible time getting confirmation.
HE: (after a pause) What... uh... what kind of confirmation do you get?
SHE: Well, you confirm that you’ve actually seen the bird you think you’ve seen.
HE: Ah.
