Front
Porch Trilogy
charming stories from the Eastern Shore
by Robert P. Arthur
About the Play:
The Front Porch Trilogy takes place on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
It consists of three plays— Lonely Onley Blues, Matins Of The Sook,
and The Ghost Of Marina—in which various families of the Eastern
Shore congregate on their front porches. A grandmother must go from the
island that has been her home from infancy—but won’t leave
before someone shaves her. A hooty-owl ghost forces a family to confront
its secrets. Both poignant and humorous, these plays detail a way of life
that is too quickly disappearing from our American landscape.
Time: The present
Cast Lists:
Lonely Onley Blues
Kate, Sassy, Boy, Grandpa, George Floyd. Ben, Len ( All over
70, except Boy, who is fourteen)
Matins of the Sook
Frank Harrison, 55 year old crabber
Lee Ann Harrison, 43 year old wife
Bonny Harrison, 13 year old daughter of Frank and Lee Anne
Lemuel Smith, 45 year old Brother of Lee Ann Harrison
Sue Smith, 49 year old wife of Lemuel Smith
Edie Harrison, 92 year old widow of family patriarch Ed Harrison
Ed Harrison, a memory
The Ghost of Marina
Captain Charlie, Family Patriarch and Ma Parks’ brother
Bill Anchorman, Franny’s “own”cousin
Franny Parks, The Captain’s ward, Ma’s son
Mary Blye, Bill’s sister and HP’s wife
HP, Mary Blye’s husband
Laura, (Ma) Parks Franny’s mother and the Captain’s sister
Ethel, A ghost, Captain Charlie’s wife
Place: The Eastern
Shore of Virginia. A large farmhouse with a porch upstage center. Rocking
chairs and planters are scattered about on the porch. Rain slicks for
fishing are hanging on the porch railings. The place has not been well
maintained, but it’s livable. There is an old pier reaching into
the Chesapeake down stage left. Near the pier are crab traps, baskets
of clams, nets, oyster shells, etc. At down stage left there is a garden.
From the Play:
Sue: Frank wants you to shave his mother so she'll look
good when you guys take her to the home.
Lem : (Coming on stage) Oh Jesus Christ, Frank!
Frank: You've got the better hands, Lem. Let's face it.
My hands shake too much. Always have.
Lem: What the hell does she need a shave for, Frank!
Who's she going to meet at the old ladies' home.
Sue: Shut up, Lem. Just shut up.
Lem: Wadda I say?
Sue It's not what you said, Lem. It's how loud you said
it. Do you want her to hear you? She's in there with Lee Ann crying her
heart out.
Lem: Why doesn't Lee Ann do it?
Sue: Mrs. Harrison's skin is like paper, Lem, and I know
Lee Ann. She couldn't live with herself if she hurt Mrs. Harrison.
Lem: Then why's she sending Mrs. Harrison to the old
Lady's home?
Frank: Now you shut your mouth, Lemuel. You don't know
what it's like trying to live with Momma and be a mother to Bonny at the
same time.
Lem: Bonny! Well, where is Bonny, anyway.
Frank: Bonny's gone around to Captain Clifford’s
Lem, to pick up the boat. Where the hell do you think she is, anyway?
You know of anyplace else she might have got to this morning? Maybe she’s
gone dancing.
Lem: No point in firing off at me Frank. Seems to me
a man smart as you wouldn’t wait till the last minute to get his
Evinrude fixed.
Lee Ann: Frank forgot to do it Lem because of so much
on his mind. You gotta respect that, Lem.
About the Playwright:
Robert P. Arthur is a multi-award winning playwright,
poet, and novelist whose plays and poems have been presented internationally.
His works include novels (Crazy Horse in Heaven); poem plays with music
and for dance (Hymn to the Chesapeake; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to Onley) , musicals (Dreams of Bonnie Prince Charlie) plays (Floyd Collins
and the White Angels of Sand), among others. He is also a talented actor
and presents readings of his own works.
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