THE STORIES: In the first monologue,
Rupert’s Birthday, a farm woman, Louisa, tells of assisting at the birth of her bull calf, Rupert, who was born on the same day as her brother, Orville, and for whom her regard is higher. Filled with poignant insights about her rural girlhood, the monologue follows the thread of Louisa's life—and makes it clear why the only birthday she acknowledges, or celebrates, is Rupert's. (1 woman.)
The second monologue,
Chug, is a tall tale about the picaresque adventures of the title character and his unlikely involvement in the business of raising frogs—thousands of them. Richly humorous and filled with bizarre incidents, Chug's story is both cautionary and enlightening and a tribute to one man's will to win—even when it means coping with a superabundance of frog legs. (1 man.)
The third monologue,
An Educated Lady, is a poetic evocation of a magical spring; a pet raccoon named Albert; and a mysterious old man who communes with spirits not of this earth. Moving and disturbing, the story is of dark woods and primal happenings and of secrets carried to the grave. (1 woman.)
In the final monologue,
Cemetery Man, we meet an aging gravedigger who is about to be replaced by a backhoe—and who does not accept the change gracefully. And as he recounts his experiences, it becomes abundantly clear that digging a proper grave is a human thing, which calls for care and concern if the departed are to go peacefully into eternity. (1 man.)
