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Ruby's Story

  • Ron Osborne
  • Full Length Play, Drama, 1940s / WWII
  • 3M, 6F
  • ISBN: 9780573696923

June 1944. In England, Allied troops are massing for an invasion. On a small farm in Appalachia, a different kind of war is about to rage.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Drama
  • 105 minutes

  • Time Period: 1940s / WWII
  • Target Audience: Appropriate for all audiences
  • Cautions: Mild Adult Themes

  • Performance Group:
  • Large Stage, Community Theatre, High School/Secondary, Professional Theatre, Reader's Theatre, College Theatre / Student, Senior Theatre
June 1944. In England, Allied troops are massing for an invasion. On a small farm in Appalachia, a different kind of war is about to rage. Here, Walter and Grace share a home with four daughters: Rose, who struggles to understand why Stan – an immigrant coal miner and the love of her life – abruptly left to join the Polish Free Forces; Helga, who fears for her husband who's in the Army and – like Stan – assigned to a combat unit in England; Frieda, the family's adventure-seeking daughter, who works in a factory making uniforms and new friends, one of whom she can't bring home; and teenage Ruby who yearns to be the next Edward R. Murrow, but who must first come to grips with a family falling apart at the seams. 

D-Day speeds the dissolution process, but at its core is Walter's seeming allegiance to his German heritage, no matter that Helga's husband and Rose's fiancé are at war against all things German. There – through every battle – is Grace, hoping liberal doses of humor, love and understanding can restore harmony. It is adult Ruby – back for a funeral, seeking answers to questions that haunt her – who retells the family's struggle against prejudice, fear, delusion and self-loathing.

Ruby's Story is a very good play ... featuring multi-dimensional characters and great dialogue to tell a simple story with rich period detail

Wheeling News-Register

Ruby's Story is not your usual World War drama ... it reveals a side of wartime America that's generally ignored. What was it like to be a German American during the war ... to wait, impatiently and uncourageously, for word of a husband or boyfriend? ... to grow up normally in a world turned upside down by events entirely beyond your control?

nytheatre.com
Premiere Production: Ruby's Story was produced by The 13th Street Repertory Company in New York City May 20 through July 10, 2004. The play returned to New York City and The 13th Street Repertory Company in June 2009, running multiple performances through August.

Characters

  • Casting: 3M, 6F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Ensemble cast, Minority casting, Features Teens, Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
  • Casting Notes: Can be produced with a cast of 8, assuming the characters Sid and Stan are portrayed by the same actor.

ADULT RUBY - early 60's (and back home for a funeral)
YOUNG RUBY - a young 16
HELGA - her sister, 21
ROSE - another sister, 24
FRIEDA - a third sister, almost 20
WALTER - their father, early 50's
GRACE - their mother, early 50's
SID - Frieda's friend, 24*
STAN - Rose's fiance, mid 20's*

* If necessary, the same actor can portray both these roles.

Available Material

Name Price
Ruby's Story Script Order Now

June 1944. In England, Allied troops are massing for an invasion. On a small farm in Appalachia, a different kind of war is about to rage. Here, Walter and Grace share a home with four daughters: Rose, who struggles to understand why Stan – an immigrant coal miner and the love of her life – abruptly left to join the Polish Free Forces; Helga, who fears for her husband who's in the Army and – like Stan – assigned to a combat unit in England; Frieda, the family's adventure-seeking daughter, who works in a factory making uniforms and new friends, one of whom she can't bring home; and teenage Ruby who yearns to be the next Edward R. Murrow, but who must first come to grips with a family falling apart at the seams. D-Day speeds the dissolution process, but at its core is Walter's seeming allegiance to his German heritage, no matter that Helga's husband and Rose's fiancé are at war against all things German. There – through every battle – is Grace, hoping liberal doses of humor, love and understanding can restore harmony. It is adult Ruby – back for a funeral, seeking answers to questions that haunt her – who retells the family's struggle against prejudice, fear, delusion and self-loathing.

$24.95

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