The Beatification of Shirley

Wayne Berry

Description

The Beatification of Shirley chronicles the Whitford family's journey through decades of miscalculations and misguided intentions. At a time of society's access to an expanding base of knowledge,Conrad Whitford will completely reject any new information and be very wary of anyone who embraces new ideas. Lorraine,his wife,will blindly second his every opinion because The Bible tells her to do so. Their children will have to navigate their way through a minefield of Biblical inperatives about which there can be no discussion. The oldest,Norman,will struggle to survive in a world stacked against him. He is gay. The second son,Randy,will conform as best he can to a value system he doesn't want to second guess,but will fall short. The oldest daughter, Shirley,will be the weakest link in the fabric of the family,and an unfortunate victim of her parent's overprotection. She will be elevated to the status of a Saint. The youngest,and adopted,Beverly,will not subscribe to anything without questioning,causing her parents unexpected grief. The family,and everyone who comes in contact with them,will plunge deeper into turmoil as Conrad's ever-growing distrust of anyone who may think they know more then he does, and an unrelenting reliance on strictly literal interpretatiion of His Bible,will sweep the unsuspecting passengers toward an impending train wreck. There will be many casualties. All will be atributed,by Conrad,Lorraine and Shirley,to Devine Intervention,keeping them in a house that Shirley is convinced is her birthright,but might just eat people for lunch.

Sujets

• Vie de famille
• Relations familiales
• Performing Arts
• Biography
• Whitford
• Paly
• Beatification
• Entertainment
• Chronicles
• Family
• Autobiography
• Shirley

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 19 mars 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781449083892
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE BEATIFICATION OF SHIRLEY

A PLAY IN TWO ACTS






WAYNE BERRY










AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]






© 2010 Wayne Berry. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/14/2023

ISBN: 978-1-4490-8388-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4490-8389-2 (e)






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Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.



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CONTENTS
Characters
Act I
Scene One
Scene Two
Scene Three
Scene Four
Scene Five
Scene Six
Scene Seven
Scene Eight
Scene Nine
Scene Ten
Scene Eleven
Scene Twelve
Scene Thirteen
Scene Fourteen
Scene Fifteen
Scene Sixteen
Scene Seventeen
Scene Eighteen
Scene Nineteen
Scene Twenty
Scene Twenty-One
Scene Twenty-Two
Scene Twenty-Three
Scene Twenty-Four
Scene Twenty-Five
Scene Twenty-Six
Scene Twenty-Seven
Scene Twenty-Eight
Scene Twnety-Nine
Scene Thrity
Scene Thirty-One
Scene Thrity-Two
Scene Thirty-Three
Scene Thirty-Four
Scene Thirty-Five
Act Two
Scene One
Scene Two
Scene Three
Scene Four
Scene Five
Scene Six
Scene Seven
Scene Eight
Scene Nine
Scene Ten
Scene Eleven
Scene Twelve
Scene Thirteen
Scene Fourteen
Scene Fifteen
Scene Sixteen
Scene Seventeen
Scene Eighteen
Scene Nineteen
Scene Twenty










ALSO BY WAYNE BERRY:
IS THIS THE FUN PART?
AN ANTHOLOGY

THE GUESTHOUSE
A NOVEL







THE BEATIFICATION OF SHIRLEY


A PLAY IN TWO ACTS


WAYNE BERRY



THE BEATIFICATION OF SHIRLEY
A PLAY IN TWO ACTS

The story of a Dysfunctional, Right Wing, Bigoted, Evangelical
Family.

SETTING: A home in rural, middle class America, but within easy reach of a major metropolis. It is a throwback to the 50’s. June Clever, Donna Reed or Harriet Nelson could appear at any moment. The set consists of the kitchen, upstage right in the background, the living and dining rooms are center stage and can be seen and/or used separately or simultaneously, depending on where the action is taking place. Furnishings and appliances are old, until a mass replacement occurs in a gift scene. Upstage left are two small bedrooms with doors that lead out into an unseen hallway which enters the set upstage center between the kitchen and the living room and dining areas. They serve as sleeping arrangements as needed for all characters. Downstage right or left, small mini-sets can be wheeled in for action taking place anywhere other than inside the Whitford home.
CHARACTERS:
CONRAD WHITFORD: A WWII Purple Heart recipient with just a high school education and a deep distrust and animosity for anyone with more than that. He compensates by perceiving himself better than they. He is fiercely Republican and conservative. He holds deep seated hatred for any other race, and uses racial epithets routinely. His religious views border on the fanatic and his interpretations are wildly literal. He is the ultimate authority in the family. Whenever he is not in a scene, he is seated in his favorite chair in the living room cutting articles from newspapers. There is always a stack of papers by his chair and a growing stack of boxes in which the articles are being stored. Conrad is addicted to Right Wing, Conservative, Republican, Evangelical radio talk shows and sermons. They play before curtain, between scenes and often Norman, Beverly, or Randy have to turn them off to talk. Shirley has picked up on Conrad’s obsession and often has similar shows on the radio in her room.
LORRAINE WHITFORD (Dowd) : Conrad’s wife, city bred, she fled to life with Conrad and soon learned to be the subservient handmaiden Conrad felt The Bible instructed her to be. She is not permitted any opinions of her own and must support any her husband puts forth. She is expected to be a stay-at-home wife and mother; she may not work. Her sole identity is her husband and children. She has been poorly equipped to deal with the physical demands of her wifely duties by a mother of fairly Victorian ideas and has been plagued by many miscarriages.
NORMAN WHITFORD: The oldest of four children, gay, and trying to deal with his own identity and the extreme prejudice of a judgmental religion, while not causing any excess turmoil in an already turmoil filled environment. Norman is extremely bright, also awarded a Purple Heart after serving with distinction in the service, then a college graduate and a Registered Nurse. He then becomes one of those overly educated people his father distrusts .
RANDY WHITFORD: Second son and six years Norman’s junior. He is an athlete and not as scholastically inclined. Conrad relates much more easily with Randy. Randy also conforms to and accepts more of his father’s ideas and odd interpretation of scriptures, with which Norman will have many problems. Randy’s attempt’s at marriage will fail, perhaps due to the strict precepts instilled in him by his father, which hinders his sex life with his wife. His marriage will not last as long as Norman’s relationship with his partner, nor sister Beverly’s with her husband. Shirley will have no relationships whatsoever.
SHIRLEY WHITFORD: Oldest daughter and four years younger than Randy. Shirley has had the misfortune to suffer from asthma and a plethora of allergies. Her brush with death as an infant will be the catalyst for the dynamics of the entire family. The gross mismanagement of her disease and over-protective approach adopted by Conrad and Lorraine will send the whole family into a tailspin, while Shirley rises above it all as some kind of Saint and ultimate religious soothsayer. She has matured physically, but mentally and emotionally she is still a pre-teen. She speaks rapidly, running her words together, and it is obvious to anyone except her parents that she is not fine. Other than gaining a little weight and turning a little grey, Shirley does not change. Other than scenes where Norman has provided her with some elegant clothes, she wears sweats and baggy, unattractive outfits. Wherever Shirley lands on stage, a spotlight appears on her like some guardian angel. Often when not in a scene, she appears alone in her bedroom, either listening to her religious shows, reading her Bible, or praying, at the same time Conrad is sitting in his chair cutting out his “pertinent” articles for posterity .
BEVERLY WHITFORD (Broady): Youngest daughter, six years younger than Shirley, adopted, and the strongest willed of all the Whitford children. She brings an entirely different prospective from an entirely different gene pool, although she is not aware for some time that she is not a biological Whitford. She resents the constant laments from her mother that she is not more like Shirley. She is rebellious, does things the other siblings would never dared to have done or ever gotten away with. Conrad and Loraine are older and perhaps tired and more lax with her. They have simply spent most of their time seeing to Shirley’s complete care to the exclusion of the kind of diligence they always provided for their other children. Beverly’s daughter, Lisa, suffers from asthma, like Shirley, but receives competent medical management.
JOHN ROWLEY: Norman’s partner and from the family’s perspective, his parent’s at least, “friend.” John is an accepted member of the family as long as the real relationship is kept a secret. His role will change when their real relationship is revealed.
BLAINE BROADY : Beverly’s husband, divorced, but not before Beverly has moved in with him. He has two children from his first marriage in custody of his ex-wife. Blaine has figured out the dynamics of this family pretty well, and yet has gone ahead and become a part of it all, keeping his own council as much as possible, but unable to remain silent always.
VIVIAN DOWD : Lorraine’s mother, Victorian in her ideas of sex, but otherwise a most outgoing, gregarious old woman. She prefers the company of young people to old. She uses words in a totally different context, like the word “gay,” which makes Norman nervous. She dislikes her son-in-law and finds subtle ways to annoy him. When in a wheelchair, far from an invalid, she pays her own way and feels she’s entitled to her own opinion, which clashes constantly with Conrad’s view that she is not. Vivian is always aware of her appearance and takes pains to look nice. She looks almost the same at over 100 as she did in her late 70’s, when she first appears on stage.
RUTH GIORDANO (Dowd): Lorraine’s younger sister, married to a Catholic and much more laid back and accepting, she has a marriage and children which give her much more pleasure than her sister seems to enjoy. Her husband, Lonnie, does not get on well with Conrad, and will flee, with his family, once Conrad gets on his soapbox. She is also concerned and aware of Shirley’s predica