Rosary Hartel ONeill - Ghosts of New Orleans: Plays by Rosary Hartel Oneill Volume 2

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Copyright 2009 Rosary Hartel ONeill

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author. The amateur and professional live stage performance rights to these plays are controlled exclusively by Samuel French, Inc.,

and royalty arrangements and licenses must be secured well in advance of presentation PLEASE NOTE that amateur and professional royalty fees are set upon application in accordance with the production circumstances.

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ISBN 978-1-4251-5665-7(sc)

ISBN 978-1-4251-5990-0 (e)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that all plays contained in GHOSTS OF NEW ORLEANS are subject to a royalty. They are fully protected under copyright laws of the Unites States of America, the British Commonwealth, including Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. In their present form the plays are dedicated to the reading public only.

The amateur live stage performance right to all plays contained in GHOSTS OF NEW ORLEANS are controlled exclusively by Samuel French, Inc, and royalty arrangements and licenses must be secured well in advance of presentation. PLEASE NOTE that amateur royalty fees are set upon application in accordance with your producing circumstances. When applying for a royalty quotation and license please give us the number of performances intended, dates of production your seating capacity and admission fee. Royalties are payable one week before the opening performance of the play to Samuel French, Inc, at 45 West 25 th Street, New York, NY 10010 or at 7623 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90046 or to Samuel French (Canada), Ltd. 100 Lombard Street, Lower Level, Toronto Ontario Canada M5C 1MC or visit our website at www.samuelfrench.com

Royalty of the required amount must be paid whether the play is presented for charity or gain and whether or not admission is charged.

Stock royalty quoted upon application to Samuel French, Inc.

For all other rights than those stipulated above, apply to The Marton Agency, 1 Union Square West, Suite 815, New York, NY 10003; .

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) John Singer Sargent, 1856-1925, American, 1883-84 Oil on canvas, 82 1/8 x 43 1/4 in. (208.6 x 109.9 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916 (16.53) Image The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Book Design: Karen Engelmann I www.karenengelmann.com

Rosary ONeill is a playwright of enormous talent and range who deservedly has a large audience. We have known this true Southern Belle for many years and have showcased her multiple prize-winning plays at The National Arts Club. Dr. ONeill has a fertile mind that can conjure unique fictional characters with real flesh and blood. The dialogue is always memorable, and the plots are singular and magnetic. We have always been enriched by ONeill plays and look forward to many, many more.

ALDON JAMES

President

National Arts Club, New York

I met Rosary through Susan Sandler the playwright and screenwriter of CROSSING DELANCY, who was also a supporter of Rosarys work. I directed the reading of two scenes from Rosarys WHITE SUITS IN SUMMER and THE AWAKENING OF KATE CHOPIN at the Uta Hagen/Herbert Berghof Playwrights Theater. Rosarys work is fascinating because it is variously romantic, historic and dramaticreminiscent of the works of Flaubert, Chekhov, Tolstoy and Tennessee Williams. A variable trinity of dramatic spices, Ive read and directed almost all of Rosarys plays, many several times, and they are complex and fulfilling and you discover new treasures every time through. Rosarys plays are a tremendous pleasure to see and work on, offering wonderful opportunities for the director, actor and designer.

TOM THORNTON

Director, New York

Volume Two contains historical plays, mostly Victorian, with characters driven by stratified society and tradition. My interest in historical drama was triggered by my love of Chekhov, Tennessee Williams, and New Orleans architecture. Living in New Orleans, one finds constant reminders of a lost world: Creole cottages on the streetcar line, camelback houses facing the zoo, neoclassical mansions in the Garden District, plantations on the river. All New Orleanians have some fantasy house they want to restore or reclaim.

It is impossible to live in New Orleans and not have an interest in the past. New Orleans was not damaged by the Civil War. Most mansions, Creole cottages, and shotgun houses were spared because basically the war did not move that far South. So when you drive down and see these gracious manors in the Garden District, you think: Who lived in that house? Why? Who stays there now? You walk along the Mississippi River, you wonder: What ships are docked there? Who came to town or left?

My parents and grandmothers used to talk about New Orleans and New York being equally important ports and centers of culture before the Civil War. I couldnt believe this, given how little legitimate theatre remained in New Orleans. There was a hard-working opera using rental space, a destitute symphony, and a few community theatres struggling for money. After the war, my folks said schools and theatres were stricken; only street music survived. The theatre world, which had been so vibrant, never truly recovered.