"THE SPRINGVALE ARMADILLO" A Full-Length Intergenerational Drama

by Donald Loftus

In 1987, at a secluded Louisiana hospital for leprosy patients, Ruby, an 80-year-old long-term resident, spends her days beneath a willow tree—until Matthew, a young Boston Globe reporter, arrives seeking her untold story. Once a celebrated Southern debutante, Ruby was mistakenly institutionalized decades ago and abandoned by her family. As she shares her tale of lost love, resilience, and survival, Matthew...

In 1987, at a secluded Louisiana hospital for leprosy patients, Ruby, an 80-year-old long-term resident, spends her days beneath a willow tree—until Matthew, a young Boston Globe reporter, arrives seeking her untold story. Once a celebrated Southern debutante, Ruby was mistakenly institutionalized decades ago and abandoned by her family. As she shares her tale of lost love, resilience, and survival, Matthew confronts his own grief amid the AIDS crisis. Through humor, heartbreak, and profound revelations, The Springvale Armadillo explores isolation, identity, and the human spirit’s fight for dignity against the weight of societal judgment and forgotten history.

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"THE SPRINGVALE ARMADILLO" A Full-Length Intergenerational Drama

Recommended by

  • Rich Rubin: "THE SPRINGVALE ARMADILLO" A Full-Length Intergenerational Drama by Donald Loftus
    “

    An absolutely remarkable tour-de-force, at once sad and sly, tragic and uplifting. Donald Loftus has somehow managed to take the strands of a strange-but-true story from a very specific time and very specific place and weave them into a stunning tapestry of universal truths and widespread appeal. Bravo!

    An absolutely remarkable tour-de-force, at once sad and sly, tragic and uplifting. Donald Loftus has somehow managed to take the strands of a strange-but-true story from a very specific time and very specific place and weave them into a stunning tapestry of universal truths and widespread appeal. Bravo!

    ”
  • Paul Donnelly: "THE SPRINGVALE ARMADILLO" A Full-Length Intergenerational Drama by Donald Loftus
    “

    This vivid and moving story explores the unlikely connection between an elderly woman with a horrific backstory and the young reporter who prompts her to reveal it. The play is richly theatrical and ultimately deeply life-affirming as Ruby guides Matthew to confront the trauma and fear and loss in his own life.

    This vivid and moving story explores the unlikely connection between an elderly woman with a horrific backstory and the young reporter who prompts her to reveal it. The play is richly theatrical and ultimately deeply life-affirming as Ruby guides Matthew to confront the trauma and fear and loss in his own life.

    ”
  • Mike Byham: "THE SPRINGVALE ARMADILLO" A Full-Length Intergenerational Drama by Donald Loftus
    “

    Wonderful story-telling. This is an emotionally impactful history lesson on the treatment of leprosy victims. Loftus uses theatrical elements - including the use of on-stage presentations and off-stage voiceovers for flashback sequences - to the play's advantage. This is gripping theatre at its best. I would love to see this staged.

    Wonderful story-telling. This is an emotionally impactful history lesson on the treatment of leprosy victims. Loftus uses theatrical elements - including the use of on-stage presentations and off-stage voiceovers for flashback sequences - to the play's advantage. This is gripping theatre at its best. I would love to see this staged.

    ”
View all 9 recommendations
RUBY: Age 77. Even at the age of 77, RUBY maintains the charm and grace of a Southern debutante. She appears to be a woman who has led a charmed life rather than a tragic one.

MATTHEW: Age 24. MATTHEW is a young reporter for The Boston Globe who has recently lost his lover to A.I.D.S. HE is now concerned that he may be H.I.V. positive. He is troubled and looking for answers.

NURSE POOLE: Age 55. Nurse Poole, a stern professional, takes her duties and herself very seriously. SHE is bitter about the closing of the hospital that she has spent most of her life serving in.

YOUNG RUBY: Age 17. Young Ruby is a beautiful, young debutante filled with a great and genuine enthusiasm for life.

BILLY: Age 18: NOTE: Billy is played by the actor who also plays Matthew. Billy is a poor and backwards Southern boy with little education but much passion for life, the future, and most of all, Young Ruby.







Development History

  • Workshop, DGPG & P.A.G.E.S. NEW YORK, 2020
  • Reading, An Equity-Staged Reading took place at Shetler Theatre in New York City , 2003

Production History

  • Community Theater, THE OPEN-EYE THEATRE MARGARETVILLE, NEW YORK, 2025
  • Fringe, Summer Playwrights Festival 16 The Road Theatre Company Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA, 2025
  • Fringe, The Best Women’s Stage Monologues of 2024 SMITH & KRAUS PUBLISHERS , 2024
  • Community Theater, THE TYLER CIVIC THEATRE CENTER TYLER, TEXAS , 2023
  • Fringe, CINCINNATI LAB THEATRE 2023 New Works Festival CINCINNATI, OHIO, 2023
  • Workshop, THE DEPOT THEATRE HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT , 2023
  • Fringe, HRC SHOWCASE THEATRE’S The W Keith Hedrick Award NATIONAL PLAYWRITING CONTEST Hudson, New York, 2022
  • Fringe, SOUTHEAST TEXAS FESTIVAL of NEW PLAYS Beaumont Community Players Beaumont, Texas , 2022
  • Workshop, JUST WRITE! LAKELAND LAKELAND, FLORIDA, 2022
  • Community Theater, ACROSSTOWN THEATRE, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, 2020
  • Workshop, TIMES SQUARE PLAYWRIGHTS: Playwright’s Development Group, 2017
  • Workshop, The American Renegade Theatre in North Hollywood included it in their 1998 New Play Festival, 1998

Awards

  • The W Keith Hedrick National Playwriting Award
    HRC SHOWCASE THEATRE
    Winner
    2019