Monday, September 30, 2013

Full-length play about U.S. women who served as WWII pilots


 
 by Zanne Hall

In 2010 the W.A.S.P. were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal from Congress in recognition of their WWII flying service. Their existence deleted from American history books, the general public knows little about these courageous women who ferried warplanes for the U.S.  This is the story of seven women who overcame personal and professional conflict as well as battling tremendous military and societal prejudice that believed women did not belong in a man’s world in order to train with the Women Air Service Pilots in Sweetwater, Texas.  Even though the program lasted only four years its influence encouraged women to follow untraditional paths. 

 

Characters

 

JACKIE WIGHTMAN20s.  As a Floridian foster child (with a slight Southern accent) she had a difficult life in her early poor beginnings but found that a passion for flying gave her life meaning and purpose.  She is an ace pilot and seeks military recognition.  She is also a cocky wiseacre who can be an empathetic person because of her own hard-knock life.  A deceased mother, a father who vanished soon after her brother was born, she hopes to reconnect with her sibling. 

DESIREE PATRICIA POST – 20s.  A member of the wealthy Post Cereals family, she and her husband owned a flight school before the war.  She is a troublemaking snitch who has connections with the military brass because of her elite background. She is indifferent to anything but herself and thinks she is an ace pilot.

TSUN-YAN (SUNNY) CHUN - 20s.  (Chinese) Very upbeat, funny, always with a wisecrack that hits the point.  Very self-assured and comfortable with herself in any situation.  A hot pilot who was the first woman to fly solo across the U.S. north to south. 

TERRY MITCHELL - 20s.  The naïve greenhorn of the group.  Sweet and shy at first but a plucky, determined individual with a youthful passion for flying. She comes from a protective family who sent her away to Ohio State University to study pharmacy.  She discreetly spent the surplus money they sent her for charm school on flying lessons. During WASP training she becomes secretly married to a flight surgeon – military suicide if discovered.

 
INEZ (WHISKY) SANCHEZ - 20s.  (Argentinean) A soft-spoken, sensitive, commonsense woman who has an understanding ear and a shoulder in ready reserve for anyone to cry on, should they feel the need.  She will eventually become a nun and attempt to combine flying with missionary work.
 
ALICE (ZIGGY) NEGLEY  - 20s.  A smart-cracking beautiful former New York Ziegfeld Follies woman who
                      felt the need to help her country in its time of trouble in a unique way.  A producer’s son who
                      owned his own plane took her on flying trips and she fell madly in love with piloting (but not him).
                      Tough as nails but a softie inside, she thinks she can take care of herself until she gets into
                      problems over her head, like an unwanted pregnancy.   

BEATRICE (FRANKIE) WILKENS – 20s.  A devotee of Frank Sinatra. She is a daredevil trickster who has a sporting way about her.  She is a good pilot but takes too many chances that eventually place her as a pawn in the military’s game of elimination.  She is “washed out” for a minor infraction and it sends her into an emotional tailspin.

Seven Female Characters.

A military male voiceover.

 
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Published by Samuel French and Amazon
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AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY TO CHAUYUAN©
by Zanne Hall



CHARACTERS: (Some characters can be doubled and/or the use of puppets or some other imaginative device can be utilized.)

Characters speak with a slight Chinese accent, even though they are speaking Chinese, so that we get a sense that they are talking in a different language.

HSU         -    A young lad around 13 or 14 who lives in the province of Shantung, PRC.
MOTHER   -    Hsu’s mother.
XI-SHI      -    Hsu’s sister, around 7 years old.
YU-TZU     -    A funny school friend of Hsu’s.  (female) She also appears at the end of the                      play as a grown woman, though a different character.
ZHENG      -    A school friend of Hsu’s who is a Communist Party supporter.  (male)
LIU-LANG   -   A good-hearted ghost who Hsu meets and later becomes a god.  Adult male.
                     Any age. 
KWAN-YIN   -  The Chinese Goddess of Mercy.
DAOSHI     -    A daoshi, or monk, who Hsu meets on his Journey.
WONG        -   A country woman who Hsu meets on his Journey.  
GUARD 1    -   An army guard in the PRC.
GUARD 2    -   An army guard in the PRC.
WOMAN      -   A woman who Hsu meets on his Journey.
YU-TZU     -     A new friend Hsu meets at the end of his Journey in Chauyuan.


THE TIME: 

The present in the People’s Republic of China in Shantung.

(Author’s note:  It would be good to use incidental Chinese and/or Tibetan music for atmosphere.  Also, the use of imaginary effects in and around the scenes should evoke a mysterious or dreamlike quality.  For example, different scenes, like those between HSU and LIU-LANG (Goddess of Mercy) and in particular the final scene in Chauyuan, would be conducive to imaginative lighting and special effects evoking an other-worldliness.)

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