Blissfield
Description
Carter Bartosek, a foreign correspondent stationed in Beirut, returns to his Midwest hometown for the funeral of his best friend, a former congressman who apparently took his own life while high on alcohol and painkillers. Carter discovers that his friend had left the larger political arena in order to run for mayor of this town, which has transformed itself from an industrial community in decline to a high-tech hub, and that his progressive agenda might have alienated certain members of this now affluent municipality. Over the course of five days, Carter kicks through the ashes of his childhood and confronts those people whom he considers to be his extended family in search of the truth surrounding this alleged suicide. Was his friend murdered for his politics? And, if so, what does that say about Carter himself and this bucolic place he once called home?
Production Info
Full Length Drama (about 140 minutes)
Multiple Sets
Contemporary Costumes
Press Quotes
“Mysteriously magic BLISSFIELD presents a compelling case … A piece that clicks along smoothly with suspense and surprise and finishes with a tremendous kick of irony … It’s like a terrific B-movie, with brains — and a conscience.” —Chicago Tribune
“A total success … Douglas Post has a gift for suspense, and he creates a genuine curiosity and, thankfully, a satisfying revelation.” —New City
“A zippy thriller … a veritable whodunnit, albeit one with a few weighty themes thrown into its dramatic mix … a plot-centered play with plenty of narrative curves and some salacious crime details to chew upon.” —Network Chicago
“Crisp and compelling … Post’s play is full of twists and turns involving love affairs and alienated affection, precocious children and greed … It reminded me of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown.” —Windy City Times
“It’s not the simple story of a detective coming in, finding the corpse, and going about looking for the killer. BLISSFIELD looks at the impact of urban renewal on an intimate level, and the emotional attachment we have to the places where we grew up.” —Stagebill
“Situational murder … Just when this black-and-white morality play seems cut-and-dried out, it takes a marvelous turn for the gray … We’re left with a far more disturbing reaction than a murder mystery elicits.” —Chicago Free Press
“Smart … skillful … it’s an edge-of-the-chair mystery that’s also a thoughtful, articulate drama.” —Metromix
Author
Douglas PostDouglas Post's plays, which include BLOODSHOT, CYNICAL WEATHERS, DROWNING SORROWS, EARTH AND SKY and MURDER IN GREEN MEADOWS, and musicals, which include GOD AND COUNTRY, THE REAL LIFE STORY OF JOHNNY DE FACTO and THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, have been produced in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Canada, England, Wales, Germany, Austria, Russia and China. He has also been commissioned to write screenplays for Warner Bros. and NBC, teleplays for WMAQ-TV, and several radio adaptations of his scripts. On three occasions, he has been selected to develop his work at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and once at the O'Neill National Music Theater Conference. He has received the L. Arnold Weissberger Playwriting Award, the Midwestern Playwrights Festival Award, the Cunningham Commission Award, the Blue Ink Playwriting Award and three Playwriting Fellowship Awards from the Illinois Arts Council, and has been nominated for three Jeffs Award and an Emmy Award. Mr. Post lives in Chicago where he is a founding member of the Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble, teaches playwriting at the University of Chicago Graham School, and has composed songs and incidental music for over 25 productions.
Book Information
| Publisher | BPPI |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 6/23/2016 |
| Pages | 118 |
| ISBN | 9780881456684 |
Special Notes
First produced at the Victory Gardens Theater
(Dennis Zacek, Artistic Director) in Chicago, Illinois
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypublishing.com
