Synopsis

Breaking the Prairie Wolf Code

$13

Lavonne Mueller

Published by Dramatists Play Service

2 Male 4 Female

The time is 1866, the setting a wagon train moving slowly and perilously westward across the American frontier. Helen, the pampered young widow of an army colonel, and her fourteen-year-old daughter, Amy, are hoping for a new and better life in California

Used to the amenities of a refined Eastern upbringing, Helen tries bravely to adapt to the rigors of the journey, but their misfortunes multiply as they lose some of their precious food supply; Amy's clothes, put out to dry after she falls in a river, and blown away in a desert storm; and the delicate Amy falls ill with ague

The gruff trailmaster cannot leave his responsibilities to help them; the awkward attentions of a young love-smitten suitor who courts Amy before riding off to join the army only deepen Helen's distress at how far they have distanced themselves from their old life; and even the kind attentions of a wise old black "conjure woman" can do little to alleviate their plight

As Amy grows weaker it is clear that she and her mother can no longer keep up with the others and, as the play ends, they are left behind in the vast emptiness of the frontier, stoically facing the slim hope of rescue as the final moments of Amy's young life ebb away

"A highly imaginative and deeply affecting study of the sacrifice and bravery of two pioneer women" ~ NY Times

"Extraordinarily compelling" ~ NY Post

Browse Library

About Stageplays

Stageplays offers you the largest collection of Plays & Musicals in the world.

Based in the UK and the USA, we’ve been serving the online theatre community since the last century. We’re primarily a family-run business and several of us also work in professional theatre.

But we’re all passionate about theatre and we all work hard to share that passion with you and the world’s online community.

Subscribe to our theatre newsletter

We'll email you regular details of new plays and half-price special offers on a broad range of theatre titles.

Shipping

We can deliver any play in print to any country in the world - and we ship from both the US and the UK.

© 2010 - 2024 Stageplays, Inc.