David Carkeet

This four-act comedy (66 pages), formatted like the TV show To Tell the Truth (1956-1968 and later versions), is set in a near-future world where a new technology allows temporary reanimation of historical figures who appear as celebrity guests. This show presents three ostensible Mark Twains, ages 30, 50, and 70—a distribution that captures the writer at very different life stages. A panel of four tries to determine which Mark Twain is real and which two are impostors.

A voiced introduction before the lights come up makes clear that this comic ten-minute play is a parody of the Bravo reality show “The Real Housewives of New York.” Here three old Vermonters, with mutual trust and unstated fondness for one another, amicably discuss how to resolve a boundary line encroachment. The rustic good will baffles a yuppie son-in-law visiting from NYC. The play, while comic, is a moral corrective to the behavior on display in the "Real Housewives" series.

These are adaptations of four short stories and one novella by Edith Wharton that can be produced or stage-read in any combination or separately. Three are comedies, one is tragic, and one is just profound. Four are in the 10-20 minute range; one runs for 40 minutes.

Comedies:
“The Mission of Jane”-- A man who is contemptuous of his wife’s skills and intelligence is destined for a comeuppance. Cast: 1 woman, 2 men.
“The Donkey” (Wharton’s title is “The Verdict”)--An arts devotee asks a fashionable painter why he has suddenly quit working. The artist tells him that a glimpse of a simple, perfect sketch of a donkey by a truer artist has convinced him he is an imposter. Cast: 1 woman, 2 men.
“Xingu”—A pretentious book group is scornful of a newcomer until she turns the tables on them. Cast: 6 women.

The profound play is “The Fullness of Life”—A woman entering the afterlife must choose to spend eternity either with a perfect soulmate or with her husband, who was definitely not her soulmate. Cast: 2 women, 3 men; with doubling, 2 women, 2 men.

The tragedy is “Bunner Sisters,” a 40-minute play—Two unmarried women nearing middle age are fairly content running their tidy shop. A man to whom they are both attracted enters their world and poses a threat to their tender relationship. Cast: 4 women, 2 men; with doubling, 3 women, 1 man.

For information or samples, please write: carkeetdavid@gmail.com

These are stage adaptations of classic works by Mark Twain that can be performed together as a full-length anthology or individually or in any combination. Five of the plays run 10-12 minutes each and are based on these originals: "The McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm," "Buck Fanshaw's Funeral," "Cannibalism in the Cars," "Meisterschaft," and "What Is Man?" A sixth play, "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg," runs about 50 minutes. It is described separately on this site under its title. The six plays show a range of Twain's work from his boisterous Nevada days through his Hartford domestic period to the more explicit gloom of his later years. Most are close adaptations, while a few are more free. All adhere to the story line, character development, and theme of the originals. The cast sizes range from 2 to 12. An hour-long show can be had from the five short plays or from "Hadleyburg" alone. If combined, the works constitute a full-length evening. This was the program for the Nov. 30, 2016, staged reading at the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford. Most of the plays are for the age range 15 and up, though a few, like "The Burglar Alarm," would suit elementary school students. The plays can be previewed and downloaded at Drama Notebook. Info is at davidcarkeet.com. Contact: carkeetdavid@gmail.com

Hadleyburg, a village famous for its honesty, gets a surprising economic stimulus when a sack of gold worth forty thousand dollars is mysteriously delivered to the house of a prominent citizen, along with instructions for tracking down the man who deserves it based on a specific incident in the past. But the entire project is a sham, concocted by the man who delivered the sack because the town offended him years earlier. Through a series of clever manipulations, this man lays a trap for Hadleyburg’s prominent citizens, and their dishonesty is exposed in a climactic town meeting. The play is a close adaptation of a Mark Twain short story of the same title (1899). The cast size is 12, with doubling, 11 (4 females, 7 males). The play runs 50 minutes and can stand alone or combine with other short adaptations for a two-act evening of Mark Twain (see "Six by Twain" on this site for a description of the other plays, each running about 10 minutes). The plays can be previewed and downloaded at Drama Notebook. Info is at davidcarkeet.com. Contact: carkeetdavid@gmail.com