ISBN #1-60513-126-1
JAC #2011-0031

Cast Requirements:

• ANNE JACKSON: African-American; mid-30s
• RODNEY JACKSON: Anne’s older son; 17
• JIMMY JACKSON: Anne’s younger son; 10
• EARL JEFFERSON: Anne’s boyfriend; early-40s
• JOHN RIVERS: Caucasian; mid-40s
• BETTY RIVERS: John’s wife; mid-40s
• KIM RIVERS: John’s daughter; 16
• DAVID RIVERS: John’s son; 10
• ANDY ROBINSON: Caucasian; mid-50s
• LOUIS BLEDSOE: African-American; early 60s

Plot Summary

The story of Anne Jackson, a black single mother who moves with her two sons from a violent inner-city environment to an inherited home in Park Circle, an all white upscale planned community. Anne’s salary as a nurse’s assistant is, of course, inadequate to meet the steep financial requirements of a planned community where six figure incomes abound. So, some of the Park Circle residents are less than thrilled with their new neighbors who struggle to keep pace. Anne’s family encounters and sometimes generates cultural shock on all sides. Her elder son, Rodney, hates what he sees as a stifling hypocritical vibe in Park Circle, and her boyfriend, Earl, thinks Anne is crazy to work around the clock to meet the required expenses of planned community living. An American Tract takes a deep look at Anne’s battle to keep her family’s American dream from becoming their worst nightmare. This is the tale of a determined woman and her family–those who dare to push beyond the restraints of their social and economic situations to grab the golden ring of opportunity handed to them by chance. It is also about how our life experience shapes our perspective, how we see things, and thus, how we live our lives.

The Setting

Mid-1980s. Early Fall to early Summer. The action takes place at the Jackson home. The Jacksons, who are Black, have just moved into a previously all-white upscale suburban tract development.

Author Biography

Barbara White Morgan's plays have been performed in Los Angeles at the Group Repertory Theatre, Richmond Sheppard Theatre, Towne Street Theatre, Inner City Cultural Center, Gardner Stage, Ivar Theatre and the Raven Theatre. In New York they have played at 72nd Street Studio, New York Technical Institute and Where Eagles Dare. White Morgan is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Towne Street Theatre Company, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and Pen and Brush, Inc., Gardner Stage, Ivar Theatre.

The Buzz

• Civil Society Presents An American Tract (9/11)

$TBD/package +
$30/performance royalty