OLD HEART

Roger Rapoport adapted Old Heart from the Peter Ferry Novel. The play has been staged at Detroit’s Redford Theater in 2022 and Muskegon Community College’s Overbrook Theater iin 2023. His three films, Waterwalk, Pilot Error and Coming Up For Air have won a dozen best feature awards at festivals worldwide. His novel Searching For Patty Hearst is based on his coverage of the case in 1974-75. His articles appear in the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Airmail, The Progressive, The Los Angeles Times, STAT News, and the Atlantic. His website is rogerrapoport.com

Old Heart tells the story of African American GI Tom Johnson who joins forces with 24-year-old Sarah van Praag and the Dutch resistance to smuggle food and supplies from the liberated south across Nazi lines to starving cities in the northern Netherlands. Their brief love affair collapses at the war’s end, and sixty years later Johnson, about to be sent off to assisted living by his family, disappears on a...

Old Heart tells the story of African American GI Tom Johnson who joins forces with 24-year-old Sarah van Praag and the Dutch resistance to smuggle food and supplies from the liberated south across Nazi lines to starving cities in the northern Netherlands. Their brief love affair collapses at the war’s end, and sixty years later Johnson, about to be sent off to assisted living by his family, disappears on a flight to Amsterdam. While his children desperately try to locate him, Johnson is determined to track down Sarah. A film adaptation of the script is set for American and Dutch release beginning in the spring of 2025.

This bittersweet love story premiered on Detroit's Redford Theatre stage in May 2022. It played again in May 2023 at the Overbrook Theater in Muskegon, Michigan A feature film production based on the play will be out in 2025 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of European liberation and VJ Day. More details at https://www.rogerrapoport.com/old-heart as well as https://www.rogerrapoport.com/blacktheater

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OLD HEART

OLD TOM JOHNSON
CHRISTINE JOHNSON PANCO
BROOKS JOHNSON
NORA PANCO
DANIEL PECORA
MEG (V.O.)
CAPTAIN van der ARK (V.0.)
ANNEMARIE DEKKER
WOMAN AT THE STORE (PIM DE WIT DOUBLE)
DICKIE DRUYF
YOUNG TOM JOHNSON
SARAH VAN PRAAG
MAYOR
DETECTIVE
FARMER
HENDRIK DE WIT
RENATE DE WIT
TICKET CLERK
POLICEMAN
NURSE
JEANETTE BRADEN
STENOGRAPHER
ANTON SMITS
ELLA MOSTERT
JULIA JOHNSON (V.O.)
PIM DE WIT,

DOUBLING OPTIONS
NORA PANCO doubles as the TICKET CLERK and THE STENOGRAPHER
BROOKS JOHNSON doubles as, ANTON SMITS, and the POLICEMAN
CHRISTINE JOHNSON PANCO doubles as JEANETTE BRADEN and RENATE DEWIT
DICKIE DRUYF doubles as the MAYOR, HENDRIK DEWIT and the FARMER
PIM DE WIT DOUBLES AS THE WOMAN AT THE STORE
VOICEOVERS OF CAPTAIN VANDER ARK, JULIA JOHNSON and MEG are prerecorded

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Muskegon Civic Theater Actors, Michigan, Year 2021

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization Overbrook Theater Muskegon Michigan , Year 2023
  • Type Professional, Organization Redford Theater, Detroit , Year 2022

Awards

  • Best Screeplay
    Roma Festival
    Winner
    2023
  • Best Screenplay
    Black Swan
    Winner
    2023
  • Best Screenplay
    Silver State
    Winner
    2023
  • Best Screenplay
    Red Dragon Festival
    Winner
    2023
  • Grand Prize
    Golden State Film Festival
    Winner
    2024