The Library For Unpublished Works (excerpt)

Synopsis:

In 1971, the American author, Richard Brautigan, published a novel entitled ‘The Abortion:  An Historical Romance 1966’.

The story centres on a librarian who runs a library for unpublished works, open to all comers.  It is a free-wheeling establishment, where authors get to choose where their books are placed, without the constraints of the Dewey Decimal system.

Brautigan himself committed suicide in 1984 but, in 1990, inspired by the concept of this library, devotees of his work set up the ‘real’ Brautigan Library, initially in Burlington, Vermont and then, in 2010, moving to its present premises in the Clark County Historical Museum.

Likewise, this play was inspired by this alluring notion.

Through a charming, quirky narrative, we follow the fortunes of a number of eccentric patrons of the library, discovering their hidden connections or lack of connection in a bitter-sweet cycle of renewal.

Character Breakdown:

The play is a 5-hander: 4 females, 1 male

CYNTHIA CHALMERS – 54

MARTIN QUIST – 40 / DIETRICH SCHRIFT – 45 / EUGENE GASCOYNE 35 / DR MARTINEZ – 40 – one actor.

DOREEN HYSLOP – 60

DEBBIE CATCHLOVE – 21 / DORY (the young DOREEN)  ] – 25 – one actor.

MARGARET JERVIS  – 35

Runnint-time: 75 minutes.

Production History: Not yet produced.