A Wind Between the Houses
THE STORY: Gracie Martin is a dear little old lady who has found consolation after the death of her beloved husband, Henry, by placing his urn of ashes on the mantelpiece and chattering away to it as though Henry were still with her. This eccentricity is accepted easily by her old friend, Amelia, a garrulous neighbor who always says good morning to Henry when she visits. Not so, however, with Gracie’s two selfish children, John and Sheila, who fear that gossip about Gracie’s behavior will ruin their social and political futures. Matters are brought to a head on a Sunday visit when a little boy passes by to look at the “looney” he’s heard lives there. John and Sheila concoct a plot to get rid of the ashes with a shocking act that plunges Gracie into tragic despair. Sheila, brought to her senses by the realization of the wicked thing she’s done, devices a wild but effective scheme to remedy the situation and the final curtain descends on a radiantly happy Gracie.
This prize-winning comedy combines warmth and hilarity in a delightful study of a “pixilated” widow who keeps her late husband’s ashes in an urn on the mantelpiece and acts as if he were still alive—much to the consternation (and embarrassment) of her friends and family.
“…enough merriment to keep the audience laughing throughout the evening.” —Santa Fe New Mexican.
“This genuinely amusing, whimsical comedy blew itself into an enchanting final curtain.” —Los Alamos Monitor.
