Day is a Dancer

A full length tragi-comedy. It’s 1974 in a fictional Mississippi town not far from where R&B got its start. It’s a town with a history of plantations and segregation. It’s where the Devil bought souls and where Biblical scripture is part of everyday speech. But when the lights fade up on the 24 hours in which this story takes place, the war in Vietnam has been declared over, the country’s president has resigned, and most of the blues clubs around town and the railroads leading to them have been closed for several years. The town might not be aware, but it’s caught between a history rich with identity and a transformation into something vague and undefined. Like adolescence, this town should be something to get past and get through, but only a few people have that chance, and if the lights were to fade up on the next 24 hours, those left would be part of just another story.
As for this one — it’s about a young white woman inheriting a large sum of money, a few corrupt politicians, an unprincipled journalist, and a guitar player on his way to California, and each are to blame for a black man framed for a murder he didn’t commit. This isn’t a play about race as much as it is about culture and time and being connected to a way of life that we are born into and that is part of who we are.

Cast

4f, 5m CHARLOTTE HILLER thirty-one years old, attractive and sultry (probably blond) ANNA HILLER 18; a responsible and quiet girl who just finished high school VIRGIL PETERSON an unlikeable newspaper man in his thirties MAGGIE FLETCHER Charlotte and Anna's very southern Aunt. Despite her affinity for firearms, she's cultured and fashionable. ROY FLETCHER Maggie's son in his early thirties who is running for city mayor ARNOLD GOODMAN an elderly handyman (could be white or black) EDDIE DEPRIES a musician in his early twenties; He's got his finger on the pulse. He's focused and knows what he wants out of life. LAURALEI FLETCHER Roy's overly fashionable wife in her late twenties who is the embodiment of caustic southern charm DOC SELMAN a medical doctor in his late thirties -forties. He dresses in baggy white and drinks too much but is comfortable with his place in the world. *the play would benefit from the live presence of a black saxophone player, who goes by the character name of Beau Richards. He's in his thirties -- detached and distant, but approachable. He'd help a car out of a ditch, give directions, take care of a young child. He's honest. His look and his music are one.