Alan Richards
Chicago, IL
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Plays

Regrets and Recriminations
by Alan Richards

Violet and her daughter Keira are spending the weekend with Violet's older sister Rose, the operator of a boarding house. They have come together to celebrate two birthdays - Rose's seventieth and Keira's thirty-fourth. But the celebratory mood is soon shattered by the announcement of Keira's unplanned pregnancy and her decision to abort. Violet has always been a passionate pro-life advocate and her daughter's decision to abort has devastated her. Rose, unbeknownst to her niece, was once herself a pregnant, single woman who wrestled with the abortion decision and is therefore sympatheticto her niece's plight. As the three women debate and argue over the abortion issue, some long-kept family secrets are revealed that could impact Keira's decision.

While the abortion storyline unfolds, the comedic sub-stories of Rose's boarders add several humorous overlays.

Cast:
There are ten characters: Rose the seventy year old proprietor of a boarding house; Violet, the sixty-nine year old sister of Rose and mother of Keira; Keira, thirty-four years old, single and pregnant; Walter, an eighty year old retired history professor; Joe, Keira's twenty-nine year old boyfriend; Janice, a forty-something political activist/anarchist; Pete, a forty-something drug dealer; Jesus, an Hispanic male in his mid-thirties; Maria, Jesus girlfriend; a male police officer of unspecified age.