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Dreams (Sharkey)

  • Tom Sharkey
  • Full Length Play, Drama, Present Day, Contemporary
  • 5M, 2F
  • ISBN: 9780573700101

Suspenseful fantasy of psychic communication, comparable to the Twilight Zone television scripts...

The World

Mystery duel...with a touch of chill.

Chicago Sun Times

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Drama
  • 90 minutes

  • Time Period: Present Day, Contemporary
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Set Requirements: Interior Set, Bare Stage/Simple Set
  • Cautions: Open Flame, Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking, Mild Adult Themes, Gun Shots

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, Professional Theatre, Shoestring Budget, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, College Theatre / Student

  • Accolades:
  • Winner! 1975 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Play
In Dreams, two very unlikely individuals become aware of each other and eventually come to fear each other by means of their very real nightmares and daydreams. 

A young lawyer awakens in terror and dread. He has been in an abandoned building; a sadistic policeman was beating him, demanding to know where he had hidden the stolen drugs. The woman at his side, who says she is his wife, the mother of his two children, comforts him. She says, 'It was just a dream.' A moment later, a young drug addict awakens in throbbing pain. His wounds from a beating are being tended to by a man who says he is his friend. The drug addict tells him about the woman and the two children. The friend says, 'It is just a dream.' 

Which is a dream? Which is reality? What is truth? What is illusion? What is their connection? As the play unfolds, their lives become more and more entwined, leading to a final gripping encounter.
REVIEWS:

Suspenseful fantasy of psychic communication, comparable to the  television scripts...

The World

When intermission time came, no one in the audience wanted to leave their seat.

Star Sentinel

Mystery duel...with a touch of chill.

Chicago Sun Times

...extremely clever melodrama...ingenious...a cracking good puzzle...

Chicago Daily News
Premiere Production:

Dreams was originally produced in 1974 by the Image-N-Ings Theatre Ensemble.
Dreams had its professional world premiere in 1976 by the Evanston Theatre Company.

Characters

  • Casting: 5M, 2F
  • Casting Attributes: Parts for Senior Actors, Flexible casting, Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle), Minority casting
  • Casting Notes: Since there are two dreams - or two realities - the lead character, David, is played by two actors. The other ten characters appear in only one 'dream' or the other and are played by five actors, the pairings indicating the double roles.

  • DAVID TAGGART - an ex-drug user, a dreamer.
    DAVID ROSS - an attorney, a dreamer.

    • MEREDITH - Taggart's sister / FRAN - Ross's wife
    PEPITO - Taggart's best friend, also an ex-drug user / JACK - Ross's best friend, an attorney
    ANITA - Taggart's mistress / BECKY - Ross's secretary
    SLIGO - a rogue policeman / PEMBERTON - a psychiatrist
    BLACKMAN - a drug pusher / CHARLIE BISHOP - an attorney

    Available Material

    Name Price
    Dreams (Sharkey) Script Order Now

    In Dreams, two very unlikely individuals become aware of each other and eventually come to fear each other by means of their very real nightmares and daydreams. A young lawyer awakens in terror and dread. He has been in an abandoned building; a sadistic policeman was beating him, demanding to know where he had hidden the stolen drugs. The woman at his side, who says she is his wife, the mother of his two children, comforts him. She says, 'It was just a dream.' A moment later, a young drug addict awakens in throbbing pain. His wounds from a beating are being tended to by a man who says he is his friend. The drug addict tells him about the woman and the two children. The friend says, 'It is just a dream.' Which is a dream? Which is reality? What is truth? What is illusion? What is their connection? As the play unfolds, their lives become more and more entwined, leading to a final gripping encounter.

    		$24.95

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