David Preece

Edward Coles is brought back from the dead to face federal felony charges because of his freeing his slaves and promoting emancipation.

Background

The play is based on the life of Edward Coles, who was born and raised within affluent Virginia's first families. At an early age, Coles believed strongly that slavery was morally and ideological wrong and that if the republic was to survive, it had to rid itself of slavery.
Besides being neighbors and friends to Presidents Jefferson, Adams, and Monroe, Coles served President Madison's Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff. He was then forced moved to the frontier of Illinois, where he was elected as the State's second Governor and fought to keep the State free from slavery.

“Boy meets Girl”...
In 1965 Jonathan fell in love with Emery at the high school dance. Unfortunately, Emery did not have the same feelings for Jonathan. She sets off for a new life upon graduation, never saying goodbye to her friends. Although Jonathan’s heart is shattered, he is determined to find Emery and win her love. Twenty years pass before their paths cross again, however feelings and people have changed.

Lyndon Johnson deliberately masks his failing health from his wife, Lady Bird, to fulfill her personal commitments.

THE UNICORN FROM THE STARS reveals the personal story of tormented, brilliantly talented poet, Sylvia Plath, through dramatic confrontation with a neighbor who tries to save her.

It’s the beginning of December of 1975 at the old Morosco Theatre. Fresh from her Oscar and film successes in Rosemary’s Baby and Harold and Maude, Ruth Gordon arrives for the first read-through for a new play on Broadway, called The Story of Ruth, a stage adaptation of the biblical story of Ruth. Before and during the read-through, Gordon finds herself at odds with the playwright and producer who want to fire her. The memories of her past as well as the presence of the"spirits" give Gordon the strength and comfort to move on.

Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, the adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.

While preserving both the haunting tragedy and romance of the original novel, THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES also evokes Hawthorne's belief that new hope and promise supersede the grim despair of the past. The play is a dark, Gothic love story, which unites lovers from opposite sides of a centuries-old curse. Mysterious deaths, hidden documents and ghosts from the past surround a secret, which holds the key to a family's salvation.

Adapted from the novel by Oscar Wilde, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY tells the fascinating story of a wealthy young man, Dorian Gray, who after seeing his portrait, claims that he would sell his soul to remain youthful while the portrait ages in his place. He gets his wish. Moved by the influences of the society in which he finds himself, Dorian Gray embarks on a hedonistic life, fully exploring his intellectual, aesthetic, and sensual appetites. Despite his look of innocent beauty, he exerts a corrupting . . . as well as deadly . . . influence over many acquaintances. Meanwhile, Dorian's portrait grows more horribly ugly with each new sin, until in a fit of remorse he destroys it and himself.

While preserving the humor, romance, and eerieness of the short stories, my adaptation also evokes Dickens' love of ghost stories and his fascination with ghosts and the macabre. Beguiled in early childhood by his nursemaid's bewitching stories of giants and demons, ghosts and monsters, Charles Dickens harbored all his life a fascination with ghosts, apparitions and chilling coincidence. CHARLES DICKENS' GHOST STORIES is a collection of eerie Victorian tales from one of the world's greatest storytellers. The stories are a lively mixture of comedy, pathos, and the supernatural, including The Signalman, The Bagman's Uncle, The Queer Chair, and The Portrait-Painter's Story.

TENDER deals with the lives of F. Scott Fitzgerald, his wife Zelda, and Ernest Hemingway. Set in Paris one night in 1927 at Fitzgeralds' apartment, TENDER tells of a true incident where Hemingway comes over to get the assistance from Fitzgerald on his first novel, The Sun Also Rises. In the course of the evening, past truths are painfully revealed and their lives are changed forever.

The play, ACCORDING TO JOHN, opens with a solemn funeral service, deceased unknown.

The scene changes to Protestant Bishop Richard Andrews being counseled by his attorney, Steven Land, the morning of his heresy trial. Andrews has been accused by a small group of conservative bishops for ordaining Larry Schofield, a gay man, to the priesthood. After Schofield left his office Andrews had pondered the scriptures of John, the basis for a sermon he was writing.

The scene changes again and we see John dragged by guards to an Inquisitor who wants to hear John’s recount of Jesus’ life. Reluctant at first, John is beaten into submission. John recalls various miracles he witnessed by Jesus. He notes that the Pharisees, who mistrusted Jesus, become even more frustrated after these feats and, along with the Jewish leadership and chief priests, decide to kill Jesus.

As Andrews’ heresy trial is about start, he’s approached by one of his accusers offering him a settlement. Andrews refuses the offer. In private, he reveals to his wife that wants redemption from his past actions.

In the second act, Andrews’ trial begins.

As the arguments against Andrews are heard, John recalls the final days of Jesus’ life.

The trial ends and Andrews is exonerated. Later, Andrews watches Schofield officiate at a communion. Suddenly, gunshots are heard and Andrews and Schofield fall.

The final scene is the play’s opening, the deceased is revealed to be Larry Schofield.

LAST GLEAMING examines the last moments of Presidents John F Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon, unalike and tied together by in an unusual way. The first act, A Warm Day in November, Jacqueline Kennedy tries desperately to save her marriage by persuading her husband to cancel an event in Dallas. The second act, Dancing Among the Wildflowers, Lyndon Johnson deliberating masks his failing health from his wife, Lady Bird, so that she fulfills her personal commitments. The final act, The Family Hour, Richard Nixon staggers back to the East Wing after receiving the news of his impending impeachment and is confronted by his wife, Pat and an ultimatum.