A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Butterscotch

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  2w, 3m

Barbara L. Smith

Winner! New England New Play Competition and Festival.

"Very funny." - Martha's Vineyard Times.

"Humorous and humane." - Greenwich News.

Butterscotch

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 3m
  • Duration
    Duration
    105 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Not Applicable
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences, Adult, Senior
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! New England New Play Competition and Festival.

Details

Summary
Butterscotch is a candy yellow 1947 Ford at the center of an unlikely friendship between a New York restaurant critic and a man who loves roadside diners. The critic has come to a small Pennsylvania town to persuade his fiancee's father to attend their wedding in New York. The bride, a news correspondent off on assignment, has not even told her cantankerous, ailing father she is getting married. Adding to the bucolic fray are an elderly neighbor who has her fading eyesight on the widowed father, dad's hunting buddy and a nervous ex-New Yorker whose condo ruined a favorite hunting spot. Father and future son in law share only a dislike for each other, but the vintage car brings about a surprising end to a seemingly hopeless impasse.
History

1994: First produced by the Theatre Artists Workshop of Westport, CT.

1996: First New York City production at Pulse Ensemble Theatre. 

Recent productions: Waterloo (Iowa) Community Playhouse (March 2012); Apple Hill Playhouse, Delmont, PA, May-June 2011; Opera House Theatre, Philipsburg, MT; Summer season 2009, June through September, 22 performances.

Optioned for TV movie with commitments from James Garner and CBS. Productions in New York City, Texas, Montana, California, Louisiana, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa, Pennsylvania.

First place winner of New England New Play Competition sponsored by Vineyard Playhouse on Martha's Vineyard (also production). Production at Pulse Ensemble Theatre, New York City; Westport (CT) Arts Center; Staged readings: Maxwell Anderson Playwrights Series, Greenwich, CT; Emelin Theatre, Mamaroneck, NY. Semi-finalist in Clauder Competition (recognized at Hasty Pudding theatre, Cambridge, Mass.).
Keywords
Performing Groups

LINCOLN PRICE - 40's, New York restaurant critic
EMERY BAER - mid-70's, a rural, unpretentious senior
ROSE "PENDY" PENDERGRASS - also 70-ish, Emery's loveable neighbor
BOB SILER - about 40, friend of Emery's
MITZI KELLER - 30's, another New Yorker

male - mid-seventies

male - mid-forties

male - about forty

female - mid-seventies

female - early thirties

  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day, 1990s
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features Not Applicable
  • Duration 105 Minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

"Very funny." - Martha's Vineyard Times.

"Humorous and humane." - Greenwich News. 

"I can't believe I never heard of this play before ....It's the kind of show where people laugh their heads off, and then shed a few tears."  -  Cedar Valley (Iowa) Courier

Celebrity quotes:

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read 'Butterscotch.' I had a lovely afternood going through it." - Donald Sutherland

"I am interested in performing the role of 'Emery' in the television, feature film or stage production." - Ed Asner

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

Available Formats:
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Authors

Barbara L. Smith

Barbara L. Smith

Barbara L. Smith has been writing drama for most of her adult life, both stage plays and screenplays. Since publication, her play Butterscotch has been produced widely across the country. It has received numerous awards, including first place in the New England New Play Compe ...

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