Edward J. Walsh

Edward J. Walsh has worn a lot of hats during his writing career, but his favorite chapeau is that of the playwright. Laboring as a lone wolf or sometimes as a collaborator, he has seen a number of his efforts make it to the stage. In Northeast Ohio, his work has been produced at Dobama Theatre, Cuyahoga Community College-Western Campus Theatre, Berea Summer Theatre, Kent State University, John Carroll University, and Chagrin Valley Little Theatre-River Street Playhouse. In recent years two of Walsh’s plays were performed as part of The Colombi New Plays Festival at Ensemble Theatre. One of these, “One-on-One,” deals with the confrontation between two white kids and a lone African-American kid on a neighborhood basketball court. The play was later published, as was Walsh’s adaptation of...

Edward J. Walsh has worn a lot of hats during his writing career, but his favorite chapeau is that of the playwright. Laboring as a lone wolf or sometimes as a collaborator, he has seen a number of his efforts make it to the stage. In Northeast Ohio, his work has been produced at Dobama Theatre, Cuyahoga Community College-Western Campus Theatre, Berea Summer Theatre, Kent State University, John Carroll University, and Chagrin Valley Little Theatre-River Street Playhouse. In recent years two of Walsh’s plays were performed as part of The Colombi New Plays Festival at Ensemble Theatre. One of these, “One-on-One,” deals with the confrontation between two white kids and a lone African-American kid on a neighborhood basketball court. The play was later published, as was Walsh’s adaptation of “Frankenstein.”
Most recently, his adaptation of “The Red Badge of Courage” was published by Next Stage Press. And his is one-act play entitled “Stranded” was chosen as the first of a series of plays streamed nationally by Playwrights Local.
Now the only question is, “What will come out from under Walsh’s hat next?”

Scripts

CLIMBING ADAM'S WALL

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

SYNOPSIS

A gifted surgeon, DR. DONALD CUSHING is determined to draw the world’s attention to the plight of chimpanzees through a high-risk surgery. Success would mean he had found a way to climb what the theologian Martin Luther had called “Adam’s Wall,” the inability of humans to communicate with animals. DR. CUSHING’S patient will be ENOCH, a feisty and remarkably intelligent chimpanzee.
DR. CUSHING...

SYNOPSIS

A gifted surgeon, DR. DONALD CUSHING is determined to draw the world’s attention to the plight of chimpanzees through a high-risk surgery. Success would mean he had found a way to climb what the theologian Martin Luther had called “Adam’s Wall,” the inability of humans to communicate with animals. DR. CUSHING’S patient will be ENOCH, a feisty and remarkably intelligent chimpanzee.
DR. CUSHING enlists his former lover and associate, DR. LENA FISHER, in the project despite her misgivings. She and DR. GEROME POWERS, head of the animal research facility where the surgery is to take place, had an explosive parting in the recent past. She has, in fact, turned her back on doing animal research because of the atrocities she has seen. She reluctantly agrees to assist in the project only because of her affection for DR. CUSHING and concern for the safety of ENOCH.
But when DR. CUSHING is frustrated in his ambitions, his grand intentions devolve into willfulness, then into pride, and finally into tragedy. To right his wrongs, DR. CUSHING begins a search for ENOCH. Finding his chimpanzee will be his redemption.

The Year of the Monkey

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

The year is 1968, the Year of the Monkey in South Vietnam. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces started the year by clashing with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in the vicious battle known as Tet. A young reporter, Michael D. Keating, has arrived in the midst of this chaos to cover the war for his newspaper. The assignment has special meaning for Keating, whose father was a front-line reporter during World...

The year is 1968, the Year of the Monkey in South Vietnam. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces started the year by clashing with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in the vicious battle known as Tet. A young reporter, Michael D. Keating, has arrived in the midst of this chaos to cover the war for his newspaper. The assignment has special meaning for Keating, whose father was a front-line reporter during World War II. But after several months in South Vietnam, Keating fears that the publisher of his newspaper will have him return home. That would devastate Keating, who has much to prove to himself and to his father, who has abandoned the family. Driven to find a story that will keep him in South Vietnam, Keating travels with two colleagues to Kye Sanh, a beleaguered Base Camp for U.S. forces. There, under fire by the enemy and by his own fears, Keating finds a surprising story in a most surprising way.

ROAD KILL

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Life is not easy in West Virginia coal country. With mines closing, good friends Travis and Curly face hard times. When their impaired friend Blaine shows them a briefcase he found on his daily roundup of road kill, the two decide that the cash it contains is the answer to their problems. But a series of missteps proves them to be very wrong about their decision and their future.

Life is not easy in West Virginia coal country. With mines closing, good friends Travis and Curly face hard times. When their impaired friend Blaine shows them a briefcase he found on his daily roundup of road kill, the two decide that the cash it contains is the answer to their problems. But a series of missteps proves them to be very wrong about their decision and their future.

STRANDED

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Vickie Schultz, a reporter, is not happy. Let go by her newspaper in Cincinnati, she found a new job in New Jersey. Vickie has been assigned to a breaking story about the Mayor and his newly-appointed female Police Chief. But she is suddenly made to cover the grounding of a whale on the New Jersey shore. A huge sperm whale, like Moby Dick. The struggling whale's plight won't by resolved quickly. Vickie's career...

Vickie Schultz, a reporter, is not happy. Let go by her newspaper in Cincinnati, she found a new job in New Jersey. Vickie has been assigned to a breaking story about the Mayor and his newly-appointed female Police Chief. But she is suddenly made to cover the grounding of a whale on the New Jersey shore. A huge sperm whale, like Moby Dick. The struggling whale's plight won't by resolved quickly. Vickie's career ambitions are now jeopardized, her past haunts her, and she blames the whale for being too stupid to head for deep water.

The Intrusion

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

The Robishes, older sister Cloris and younger brother Luke, hope to keep the bank from foreclosing on their home. They live in an inner-ring neighborhood, and are among a dwindling population of white families. In the midst of their financial troubles, Luke assaults a young African-American who one night appears to have entered their house without force of any kind. The young man claims the door to the house...

The Robishes, older sister Cloris and younger brother Luke, hope to keep the bank from foreclosing on their home. They live in an inner-ring neighborhood, and are among a dwindling population of white families. In the midst of their financial troubles, Luke assaults a young African-American who one night appears to have entered their house without force of any kind. The young man claims the door to the house simply opened wide when he knocked, wanting to ask for the use of a phone after his car broke down.
Cloris, an LPN, arrives home soon after the confrontation, and sets about doing what she can to minister to the battered and pepper-sprayed young man. But she has questions: Who is he? Why is he in their house? Why does he so much not want her to call the police?
The answers to these questions lead to a surprising and strange alliance. Cloris and the young man join together, despite Luke’s objections, in a plan the two believe will solve their respective problems. But the plan is not without its dangers, because of a man known as Shrug. Confident, well-spoken, a drug dealer, Shrug brings Cloris to make an extraordinary decision. Life will never again be the same for her, Luke, or her young African-American friend.

GOODNUFF

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Aspiring jazz trumpeter C.C. desperately pleads for the return of his instrument from Mr. Goodnuff's pawn shop, because he has a once-in-a-lifetime audition in New Orleans. But Mr. Goodnuff is not budging unless C.C. pays what's due. The implacable pair come dangerously close to a misunderstanding.

Aspiring jazz trumpeter C.C. desperately pleads for the return of his instrument from Mr. Goodnuff's pawn shop, because he has a once-in-a-lifetime audition in New Orleans. But Mr. Goodnuff is not budging unless C.C. pays what's due. The implacable pair come dangerously close to a misunderstanding.

Thinkin' On It

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Ann Cathcart fears her husband, who has turned into someone she doesn't know or understand. At a loss as to what she should do, Ann seeks the advice of two women who help her as best they can. The real question is: What will Ann do?

Ann Cathcart fears her husband, who has turned into someone she doesn't know or understand. At a loss as to what she should do, Ann seeks the advice of two women who help her as best they can. The real question is: What will Ann do?

The Bridge

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Tank and Bennie are sharing a Sunday Morning bottle of wine from astride a bridge overlooking the river below. When a boat with four young people suddenly appears below, Tank prepares to send the wine bottle plummeting down on them. Bennie's objections are brushed away by Tank, who explains why a red-haired youngster deserves what he is about to suffer.

Tank and Bennie are sharing a Sunday Morning bottle of wine from astride a bridge overlooking the river below. When a boat with four young people suddenly appears below, Tank prepares to send the wine bottle plummeting down on them. Bennie's objections are brushed away by Tank, who explains why a red-haired youngster deserves what he is about to suffer.

A Princess Prevails

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Anton and Sasha have a problem: In order to save their rendering plant from a shut-down, they must convince "Princess" to rendezvous with Mr. Krebs, a state inspector. Faced with giving up her virginity, "Princess" must find a way to deal with her seedy employers.

Anton and Sasha have a problem: In order to save their rendering plant from a shut-down, they must convince "Princess" to rendezvous with Mr. Krebs, a state inspector. Faced with giving up her virginity, "Princess" must find a way to deal with her seedy employers.

Wishful Thinking

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

It's Estelle Wentworth's birthday, and her nephew Jesse has brought her a cupcake, candles and a gift. It's a gift that she requested, and in the confines of her room in the nursing home she will finally make her birthday wish come true.

It's Estelle Wentworth's birthday, and her nephew Jesse has brought her a cupcake, candles and a gift. It's a gift that she requested, and in the confines of her room in the nursing home she will finally make her birthday wish come true.

Hey!—Where's Charlie?

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Charlene Thompson and Justin Huth have ventured into winter’s high country. Newly angaged,
they booked a stay in a winter resort and arranged for a snowbile rental. Now, after running amok on their rented vehicle, they find they are suddenly stranded. Failed cellphone signals prevent rescue. The unrelenting snow provides water, but food is something to be despereately wished for — unless, of course, Justin can...

Charlene Thompson and Justin Huth have ventured into winter’s high country. Newly angaged,
they booked a stay in a winter resort and arranged for a snowbile rental. Now, after running amok on their rented vehicle, they find they are suddenly stranded. Failed cellphone signals prevent rescue. The unrelenting snow provides water, but food is something to be despereately wished for — unless, of course, Justin can convince Charlene that her beloved dog Charlie is the answer to all their culinary problems.

Hold the Anchovies

by Edward J. Walsh

Synopsis

Hold The Anchovies

Broke and on the run from bad debts and bad men, gambler Buster Mooney is about to end a long losing streak by stepping off a chair, with a noose around his neck. But he needs the help of the man who has just delivered Buster’s last pizza, and he’s willing to pay for it. Trouble is, Buster didn’t order anchovies on his pizza. And he’s willing to bet on it, which gives him a reason for...

Hold The Anchovies

Broke and on the run from bad debts and bad men, gambler Buster Mooney is about to end a long losing streak by stepping off a chair, with a noose around his neck. But he needs the help of the man who has just delivered Buster’s last pizza, and he’s willing to pay for it. Trouble is, Buster didn’t order anchovies on his pizza. And he’s willing to bet on it, which gives him a reason for changing his plans