The Playwrights Database
KAREN RIEHL
Nationality: USA
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Literary Agent: Richard Riehl
Although I cursed it in my youth, dyslexia turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Not being able to read or write until the age of ten forced me to express myself through acting. At the Stephens College playhouse in Missouri I fell in love with an actor, a married actor. That experience led to the publication of my first book (Love and Madness: My Private Years with George C. Scott). We were talented, young, strong, and sure we'd find success in New York. George did find it. I found myself pregnant. George wanted me to abort the baby. I refused. My friend Tammy Grimes, who later became a two-time Tony Award winner (The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Private Lives) helped me find the Florence Crittenden Home for Unwed Mothers outside of Boston, where I gave birth to our daughter. George went on to become a famous film actor. I acted in regional theatre, while raising our daughter and three sons through two failed marriages. Years later George returned to my life (Hello Again). He left again in 1982. A few years later, during a community theatre production, I met Richard, a talented musician and great husband. After studying my family history and learning of the hardships and joys of the early 1900's, I wroteSaturday Night Dance Club. Living for several years in Terre Haute, Indiana and North Conway New Hampshire, near the home of Peyton Place author, Grace Metalious, inspired the writing of Freedom's Sins. Getting lost for several hours during a brief stay near the old military base in Monterey, California scared me into writing The Ghosts of Fort Ord. More recently, our many overnight weekend getaways on the famous Queen Mary has me busily writing The Ghosts of the Queen Mary. I look forward to publishing it in the summer of 2014. My play, Bad Girl, released May 11, 2014, is a fictionalized account of my time in a home for unwed mothers.I love to hear from readers of my books. Email me, follow me on twitter, or friend me on Facebook. Click here for my in-depth Q/A interview on Smashwords!
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below is a list of Karen Riehl's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Bad Girl: A Play Quibbles Radio Shows, TheBad Girl: A Play
Synopsis:
Homes for unwed mothers disappeared when contraceptives became readily available and abortion legal. But in the early 1950s a girl who became pregnant "out of wedlock," was often treated as an outcast, a "bad girl," who "got herself pregnant," and needed to be hidden away from polite society. The fictional Safe Haven Home for Unwed Mothers provides shelter from a judgmental society, but reveals its hypocrisy as well. The young women of this play come from all levels of society, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, sharing only the plight of their unwanted pregnancies.
Notes:
"I wrote this play as a reminder of the harsh, unforgiving times that were the 1950's, when uncomfortable words and actions were swept under the rug. If the dialogue sounds last century, or events seem improbable, we can be grateful they do. It's a fictionalized account of what happened to "girls in trouble." But the story is true. I lived it."
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Amazon Kindle, 2014 B00K974NGG
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
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Genre:
Fiction based on a true story
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 9 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageQuibbles Radio Shows, The
Synopsis:
the Quibbles is a collection of comedy sketches, reminiscent of radio shows of the 40s and 50s, featuring a delightfully quarrelsome couple, Carol and Quentin Quibble, in the hilarious skirmishes of everyday life. Carol is a well-meaning helpmate, eager to improve herself and her husband. Quentin is mostly interested in golf. their next door neighbor, Madge, is the town busybody. Sketches from the Quibbles Radio Shows are easy to perform with well-drawn characters. Can be fully mounted plays, used in classes, or included in variety shows. Such fun!
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
ArtAge's Senior Theatre Resource Center www.seniortheatre.com 2012 -
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
radio plays, 5 minutes per sketch
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 4 to 40 either
Further Reference:
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