Valhalla - Acting Edition

THE STORY: VALHALLA intertwines two stories: the life of Ludwig of Bavaria, the 1880s Mad King responsible for building a series of storybook castles inspired by Wagnerian operas, and the fictional adventures of James Avery, a wild Texas teenager of the 1940s. These two iconoclasts are tracked from childhood through their deaths, and while they embody separate eras, they are ultimately revealed as time-traveling soul mates. The play explores questions of beauty and madness, as both Ludwig and James pursue lives of operatic passion, bringing them in contact with such diverse figures as a high-school quarterback, the prettiest girl in Dainsville, Texas, most of the characters of Lohengrin and princess Sophie, who declares herself the loneliest humpback in Europe. VALHALLA is a comic epic, confronting the price to be paid for wanting, and getting, everything you dream of.Paul Rudnick is the author of 'Valhalla - Acting Edition', published 2005 under ISBN 9780822220213 and ISBN 0822220210.