The Boatwright

by Bo Wilson

Ben Calloway can't seem to get his bearings in his own home anymore. Fifty-seven years old, recently widowed, childless and retired from the Kansas Highway Patrol, he's adrift-and even though he's never seen the ocean, he decides he should build a boat and sail across the Atlantic, single-handedly. Ben doesn't particularly want any part of his neighbor Jaime Watson's problems. Jaime has been suspended from film...

Ben Calloway can't seem to get his bearings in his own home anymore. Fifty-seven years old, recently widowed, childless and retired from the Kansas Highway Patrol, he's adrift-and even though he's never seen the ocean, he decides he should build a boat and sail across the Atlantic, single-handedly. Ben doesn't particularly want any part of his neighbor Jaime Watson's problems. Jaime has been suspended from film school, and Jaime's father has lost patience with the troubled young man. But when Ben decides to let Jaime make a movie about his boat-building project, the two men-generations apart and lonely in very different ways-force each other to confront the isolation in their own lives. Whether Ben is crazy or courageous, whether Jaime is ill or merely lost, whether either can help the other find his way to peace, in seeking answers, Jaime and Ben also seek truths about themselves, each navigating as best he can by the light of the other's faith. Unit set. Approximate running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

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The Boatwright

Recommended by

  • Robert Robbins: The Boatwright

    I saw a production of this play by our local community theater's academy for theatre arts education in their small workshop stage. They went to all the trouble of building a boat even though the audiences for this play were less than ten people. But I could see why they would be inspired enough to do that since this is a great play, one that you will want to do right by. The boat as a vessel for a voyage was an excellent metaphor for the character's emotional journey. I think this play is destined to become a classic.

    I saw a production of this play by our local community theater's academy for theatre arts education in their small workshop stage. They went to all the trouble of building a boat even though the audiences for this play were less than ten people. But I could see why they would be inspired enough to do that since this is a great play, one that you will want to do right by. The boat as a vessel for a voyage was an excellent metaphor for the character's emotional journey. I think this play is destined to become a classic.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Ashland New Play Festival, Year 2014

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization The Firehouse Theatre (Richmond, VA), Year 2017

Awards

  • Inaugural American Association of Community Theatres New Play Contest
    AACT
    Winner
    2014