Hymn to the Chesapeake
- 95 Minutes
- 5 Males, 5 Females, Max/Min 10
Musical Drama, Flexible Casting
$11.00 – $90.00
An award-winning, full-length play with music filled with the poetry of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Robert P. Arthur weaves fragments of conversations and traditional melodies to portray the love and heartbreak of its watermen and women–the love of the sea, a mother for a child, a man for a woman.
Play Details
Overview
Easy to stage with a variable cast, this haunting full-length drama can be performed easily by high school, college, community, and professional theaters.
Has had over ninety performances in Virginia and Maryland, as well as performances in Washington, D.C., New York City, and St. Petersburg, Russia.
At heart, this musical is a love story on the coastal waters of Eastern Virginia. In and out of time past, present, and future, Tom falls in love with Annie Drummond and revisits his past and his loves–of Annie and of the sea.
We fall in love with the lives, humor, and hardships of the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay, hardened to hard times but committed to life on the Shore.
Hymn to the Chesapeake opened at the Trawler Dinner Theater on the Eastern Shore.
A powerful, moving poem play, brilliantly written by a masterful poet. Bob Arthur’s words evoke the sights, sounds and pace of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. A must read for anyone who loves the water, history and beautiful writing.
Readings using material from the play possibly exceed the number of actual productions and include readings for libraries, museums, universities, colleges, and literary festivals, as well as the Poetry Society of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The poem/play won Port Folio magazine’s Most Innovative Theater Award. For its creation, the author, Robert P. Arthur, won the Christians in Theater Arts Award.
Productions
Trawler Dinner Theatre, Exmore, Virginia
August 1995
Directed by Judy Beck
Cast:
Larry Lovelady, Marilyn Kellam, Laura Trala, Robert Oliver, Jim Turner, Sherry Belote, and Robert P. Arthur.
Guitar: Bruce Jones
Keyboard: Patrick Belote
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