Stackalee And Mama Medea Eight Plays For Stage And Readers Theatre

These powerful plays have succeeded as both readers theatre and staged productions. Mama Medea won first place at a national readers theatre contest and was the inspiration for the film Mama Medea, written, produced, and directed by Dennis Vaughn. Their very structure invites directors and actors to try new techniques to express the ideas of the plays. Several of the plays will appeal to children, but there are others that will appeal mainly to adults through their subject matter and language. Stackalee recounts the exploits of an underground figure in St. Louis at the turn of the century. Mama Medea, of course, treats of the Greek legend. Tailypo is based on a famous folk tale. The Ballad of Red Dog, Hippity Whump, Last Days of Good Old Bill and Better Not Sit on the Grampire's Knee have as their sources only the fevered imaginings of their author. The full-length play A Ceremony of Masks: A Love Story follows Medea from her teenage years to the terrifying climax of her life. Several of them make innovative use of the speaking chorus, and all of them pay tribute to the power of language. They all lend themselves to expressive movement.Stokes, Jack is the author of 'Stackalee And Mama Medea Eight Plays For Stage And Readers Theatre', published 2004 under ISBN 9781418440305 and ISBN 1418440302.