The Beacon From Belle Isle

by J. Merrill Motz

The Beacon From Belle Isle illustrates a unique time in Michigan’s history, as the great city of Detroit files for bankruptcy and its most precious memories and iconic landmarks (including, perhaps, Belle Isle) are in danger of being stripped away and sold to the highest bidder.
Flavored with magical realism and framed in vignettes that range from unflinching candor to whimsical history, The Beacon From Belle...

The Beacon From Belle Isle illustrates a unique time in Michigan’s history, as the great city of Detroit files for bankruptcy and its most precious memories and iconic landmarks (including, perhaps, Belle Isle) are in danger of being stripped away and sold to the highest bidder.
Flavored with magical realism and framed in vignettes that range from unflinching candor to whimsical history, The Beacon From Belle Isle‘s search for a metaphorical lighthouse drives an exploration of Michigan’s growth, decline, and search for a new collective direction.

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The Beacon From Belle Isle

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  • Ky Weeks: The Beacon From Belle Isle by J. Merrill Motz
    “

    The vignettes that make up the bulk of this play hold with them a kind of poignant nostalgia, leaving a kind of wistful sadness in their wake, while never wallowing in it. The framing plotline is humorous, touching, and tinged with the fantastical. The way the vignettes break up the main story add so much to it, placing it in the context of history, while also filling it with a peculiar and enchanting atmosphere.

    The vignettes that make up the bulk of this play hold with them a kind of poignant nostalgia, leaving a kind of wistful sadness in their wake, while never wallowing in it. The framing plotline is humorous, touching, and tinged with the fantastical. The way the vignettes break up the main story add so much to it, placing it in the context of history, while also filling it with a peculiar and enchanting atmosphere.

    ”
2 M, 1 F; 4 M, 4 W rotating "ensemble"*
*The cast is meant to be doubled, apart from "The Seney Stretch" scenes with Tammy & Ricky. Keeper can take place in the ensemble for other scenes, but is written that he MUST double as the Radio Announcer.
How the "ensemble" roles are doubled, however, are left up to the director & company. It's possible to do the show without any doubling, I suppose, if you want to cast 28 roles, but it works best with a cast of 8 to 11. 8 must be the bare minimum, however: 3 for Tammy, Ricky, & Keeper, and 5 others, since the largest scene has 6 people on stage (5 ensemble + Keeper). The premiere production used a cast of 11 with the best "distribution" of roles.
The premiere production distributed roles as such (but this is NOT a requirement, merely a guide):
RICKY
TAMMY
KEEPER/RADIO ANNOUNCER
HENRY FORD/MIRIAM/CHANDRA
CHARLES LINDBERGH/MRS. WIRTH/GRAMBELL
CHIEF PONTIAC/STACY/MICKEY
MADONNA/LEON/ORSON
ARETHA FRANKLIN/GUY/LEVI
WHITE FLIGHT/MARV/GRAMP BILL/RICH
GEORGE/GLENN/PHIL
PEGGY/MS. MCGINLEY/ALBERTA

Development History

  • Commission, Freshwater Theatre, 2012

Production History

  • Professional, Freshwater Theatre, 2013