UPON A WINTER ROAD at Lakewood Theatre Company

Public staged reading -

Act I - CHRISTMAS AT THE KING’S HEAD From a coaching inn located at crossroads in rural England 1790,an innkeeper, his wife and staffmake holiday wishesfor betterlivesduringtheirannualChristmas Eve celebration with other locals of the village. The festivities are interrupted by: a class-bigoted coaching guest who meddles in the lives of others, a young, but threatened love affair, the desperate need of a carpenterand his wife and, theunexpected arrival of astranger–whose misdeeds unexpectedly bring forth spiritual renewal, prosperityand good fortune to all. Old traditional yuletide celebration, class struggle, holiday sport, sinister torment and the specter of new,better lives cross paths in this original tale of long forgotten, English Christmas among the 18thcentury rural gentry.

ACT II - CHRISTMAS AT THE BEGGAR’S BUM In London of 1661, the husband-and-wife owners of a modest coffee houseplotto give their young daughter a better lifebymarrying her off to a wealthy merchant.Introducingthe two on Christmas Eve, their schemeisjeopardized by penniless customersseeking refuge, the arrival of a gossipy aunt, their apprentice-actor son and his lover, a playwright who manipulates the eveningto provide him fodder for the second act of his new play-not to mention the young butcher who is coming that very evening toask for the daughter's hand! In a nod to broad 17thcentury comedies-secret identities, cross-purposes and a debate about theeffect of coffee on the male libido all contribute to a final act oforiginalmusical ribaldry.