Michael Weller

Dramatic Comedy

24m, 9f (with doubling possible)

Multiple Sets

"Col." Jefferson Randolph Smith, known as "Soapy" to friends and foes, is a notorious con man whose reputation has, alas, not preceded him to the Alaska Gold Rush town of Skagway in 1897. This charming gentleman starts a protection racket which brings law and order, a church and an infirmary to the town. Soapy, the criminal, becomes a force for moral good until the town's hypocrisy and vicious self interest bring him down, a victim of the cardinal sin of believing in his own con.

"Michael Weller deserves praise for a historical play with contemporary relevance, daring to accost a large canvas. The protagonist is a complex and absorbing creation. I left the theatre, for once, thinking rather than trying to forget." -New York Magazine