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Belles

  • Mark Dunn
  • Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy, 1990s
  • 1M, 6F
  • ISBN: 9780573691416

Told in "Two Act and Forty-Five Phone Calls," Belles visits six southern sisters, who, over the course of an autumn weekend, seek to bridge the physical and emotional distance between them via the telephone, and in the process come to terms with their shattered family history.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Dramatic Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: 1990s
  • Target Audience: Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult
  • Cautions: Alcohol, Mild Adult Themes, Smoking

  • Performance Group:
  • Dinner Theatre, Community Theatre, High School/Secondary, Professional Theatre, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student
This play, originally published in 1989 and revised in 1997, has entered the theatre canon as one of our most delightful and endearing plays about southern women, and enjoys popularity to this day. Told in "two acts and forty-five phone calls," Belles visits six southern sisters, who, over the course of an autumn weekend, seek to bridge the physical and emotional distance between them via the telephone, and in the process come to terms with their shattered family history. The six Walker sisters all hail from Memphis, but now they are scattered all over the country. Only Peggy still lives in Memphis, where she cares for Mama. When the play begins, Peggy is phoning her sisters with the latest about Mama... whether they want to hear it or not!

The gold standard among Mr. Dunn's many plays about southern women, and offering very strong roles for an ensemble of six actresses, Belles continues to pack an emotional punch after all these years. More and more theatre companies are revisiting this play, many setting it back in the day in which it was originally written - back before cell phones and texting and the virtually free long distance phone call became commonplace - a day in which a call to another city could be freighted with dramatic consequence and heartbreaking honesty.

Premiere Production: Belles was first presented on January 29, 1988, as winner of the Margo Jones playwriting award competition sponsored by Texas Woman's University. Its production on the TWU campus was directed by Mary Lou Hoyle. The play opened in New York City at the Thirteenth Street Repertory Company on April 5, 1989. This production was directed by Seth Gordon.

Characters

  • Casting: 1M, 6F
  • Casting Attributes: All Female
  • Casting Notes: Offers roles for six women ranging in age from 22 to 40, although productions have been successful in casting these roles with actresses several years older than the ages specified in the script. Plus one male voice.

  • PEGGY REECE - 40; Memphis, Tennessee
    ANEECE WALKER - 37; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    ROSEANNE JOHNSON - 29; Atlanta, Georgia
    AUDREY HART - 32; Collierstown, Mississippi
    SHERRY "DUST" WALKER - 30; Elk Run, Washington
    PAIGE WALKER - 22; Austin, Texas
    VOICE - 21-year-old Mike Kozlowski

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Belles Script Order Now

    This play, originally published in 1989 and revised in 1997, has entered the theatre canon as one of our most delightful and endearing plays about southern women, and enjoys popularity to this day. Told in "two acts and forty-five phone calls," Belles visits six southern sisters, who, over the course of an autumn weekend, seek to bridge the physical and emotional distance between them via the telephone, and in the process come to terms with their shattered family history. The six Walker sisters all hail from Memphis, but now they are scattered all over the country. Only Peggy still lives in Memphis, where she cares for Mama. When the play begins, Peggy is phoning her sisters with the latest about Mama... whether they want to hear it or not!

    The gold standard among Mr. Dunn's many plays about southern women, and offering very strong roles for an ensemble of six actresses, Belles continues to pack an emotional punch after all these years. More and more theatre companies are revisiting this play, many setting it back in the day in which it was originally written - back before cell phones and texting and the virtually free long distance phone call became commonplace - a day in which a call to another city could be freighted with dramatic consequence and heartbreaking honesty.

    		$24.95

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