The Gentleman from Indiana
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Colorized covers are for web display only. Most Covers are printed in black and white. Booth Tarkington’s The Gentleman From Indiana Adapted by James Still Colorized covers are for web display only. Most Covers are printed in black and white. THE GENTLEMAN FROM INDIANA “This hopeful tale of small-town Hoosier life from the turn of the century... i s an upbeat, old-fashioned tale of virtue beating out greed and graft, and of the down- home integrity of small-town rural life.” —WTHR-NBC, Indianapolis The Gentleman From Indiana Drama. By James Still. From the novel by Booth Tarkington.Cast: 11m., 4w., 2 children. May be expanded. When John Harkless, a decent optimist and the new owner and editor of the local newspaper, arrives in Plattville, In- diana, in 1889, he discovers that the tiny, dying town has long been repre- JAMES STILL sented in Congress by a corrupt political machine. In spite of threats to his life, Harkless—who bears a resemblance to Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington—is determined to take on the bad guys and restore jus- tice and pride to a community long in need of both. In the process he also dis- covers the true meaning of home in the unlikeliest of places. The Gentleman From Indiana is an ensemble play with a Thornton Wilder-like cast of ec- centric characters who populate the town of fictional Plattville, including a brass band consisting of one lone tuba player. There is also a thoroughly modern young woman with a secret who not only gets the guy but saves his newspaper by becoming its editor in a most surprising way. Booth Tarkington’s hugely successful novel was a celebration of compassion, de- cency, love, courage and integrity. More than a century later, James Still’s DRAMATIC fresh, vibrant, and lovingly crafted stage adaptation now makes it a compel- ling and relevant tale for contemporary theatre audiences. Unit set. Approxi- mate running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Code: G82. Jason Bradley and Emily Ristine in the Indiana Repertory Theatre,. Indianapolis, Ind , premier production of Booth Tarkington’s The Gentleman From Indiana. Photo: Richard Ferguson-Wagstaffe. Cover design: Susan Carle. 13 ISBN: 978-1-58342-542-8 10 ISBN: 1-58342-542-X D P C _ Printed on Recycled Paper _ 9 781583 425428 0020 7 www.DramaticPublishing.com The Gen tle man From In di ana By JAMES STILL Based on the novel by BOOTH TARKINGTON Dra matic Pub lishing Woodstock, Il li nois • Eng land • Aus tralia • New Zealand © The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois *** NO TICE *** The am a teur and stock act ing rights to this work are con trolled ex clu - sively by THE DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM PANY with out whose per mis sion in writ ing no per for mance of it may be given. Roy alty must be paid ev ery time a play is per formed whether or not it is pre sented for profit and whether or not ad mis sion is charged. A play is per formed any time it is acted be fore an au di ence. Cur rent roy alty rates, ap pli ca tions and re stric tions may be found at our Web site: www.dramaticpublishing.com, or we may be con tacted by mail at: DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM- PANY, P.O. Box 129, Woodstock IL 60098. COPY RIGHT LAW GIVES THE AU THOR OR THE AU THOR’S AGENT THE EX CLU SIVE RIGHT TO MAKE COPIES. This law pro - vides au thors with a fair re turn for their cre ative ef forts. Au thors earn their liv ing from the roy al ties they re ceive from book sales and from the per for mance of their work. Con sci en tious ob ser vance of copy right law is not only eth i cal, it en cour ages au thors to con tinue their cre ative work. This work is fully pro tected by copy right. No al ter ations, de le tions or sub sti tu tions may be made in the work with out the prior writ ten con sent of the pub lisher. No part of this work may be re pro duced or trans mit ted in any form or by any means, elec tronic or me chan i cal, in clud ing pho to - copy, re cord ing, vid eo tape, film, or any in for ma tion stor age and re trieval sys tem, with out per mis sion in writ ing from the pub lisher. It may not be per formed ei ther by pro fes sion als or am a teurs with out pay ment of roy- alty. All rights, in clud ing, but not lim ited to, the pro fes sional, mo tion pic- ture, ra dio, tele vi sion, vid eo tape, for eign lan guage, tab loid, rec i ta tion, lec - tur ing, pub li ca tion and read ing, are re served. For per for mance of any songs, mu sic and re cord ings men tioned in this play which are in copy right, the per mis sion of the copy right own ers must be ob tained or other songs and re cord ings in the pub lic do main sub sti tuted. ©MMVII by JAMES STILL Printed in the United States of Amer ica All Rights Re served (THE GEN TLE MAN FROM IN DI ANA) For in qui ries con cern ing all other rights, con tact: Par a digm, 19 W. 44th St., Suite 1410, New York NY 10036 - Phone: (212) 391-1112 ISBN: 978-1-58342-542-8 © The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois IM POR TANT BILLING AND CREDIT RE QUIRE MENTS All pro duc ers of the play must give credit to James Still as the au thor of the play and Booth Tarkington as the au thor of the novel on which it is based in all pro grams dis trib uted in con nec tion with per for mances of the play and in all in stances in which the ti tle of the play ap pears for pur- poses of ad ver tis ing, pub li ciz ing or oth er wise ex ploit ing the play and/or a pro duc tion. The names of James Still and Booth Tarkington must also ap- pear on a sep a rate line, on which no other name ap pears, im me di ately fol low ing the ti tle, and must ap pear in size of type not less than fifty per - cent the size of the ti tle type. Bio graph i cal in for ma tion on the au thors, if in cluded in the playbook, may be used in all pro grams. In all pro grams this no tice must ap pear: “Pro duced by spe cial ar range ment with DRA MATIC PUB LISHING COM PANY of Woodstock, Illi nois” All pro duc ers of the play must in clude the fol low ing ac knowl edg ment on the ti tle page of all pro grams dis trib uted in con nec tion with per for mances of the play and on all ad ver tis ing and pro mo tional ma te ri als: “The Gen tle man From Indiana was originally com mis sioned and pro duced by the In di ana Rep er tory Thea tre, In di a nap o lis, Ind., Janet Al len, Ar tis tic Direc tor.” © The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois The Gen tle man From In diana was com mis sioned by the In di ana Rep er tory Thea tre, Janet Al len, artistic director, and pre miered at the IRT on Sep tem ber 15, 2006. Di rec tion was by Pe ter Amster. Scenic designer was Rus sell Metheny; costume de signer was Mara Blumenfeld; lighting de signer was Anne Wrightson; composer was Gregg Cof- fin; sound designer was Todd Mack Reischmann; drama - turge was Rich ard J Rob erts. Stage manager was Na than Gar ri son. The cast was: Ca leb Landis.......................Sawyer Harvey Lum Landis ....................Dan iel Scharbrough Ha zel Landis ........................Jessica Berns Mrs. Landis...................Catherine Lynn Davis Old Tom Martin ...................Mark Goetzinger Miss Selina Tibbs .......................Jan Lucas Judge Briscoe ......................Jo seph Culliton Sheriff Jim Bardlock ................Adam O. Crowe Homer Tibbs....................Rob ert K. Johansen John Harkless .......................Ja son Bradley Xenophon Gibbs ...............Da vid Alan An der son Fisbee .............................Rob ert Elliott Young Wil liam Todd...................Tom Conner Rodney McCune .....................Charles Goad Kedge Halloway .....................Charles Goad Helen Sherwood .....................Em ily Ristine Minnie Briscoe .........................PJ Maske Bob Skil let .........................Charles Goad Tom Meredith .........................Ja son Marr Mar tha Sherwood ..............Catherine Lynn Davis Mr. Macauley .......................Charles Goad 4 © The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois The Gen tle man From In di ana A Play in Two Acts CHAR AC TERS: CA LEB LANDIS LUM LANDIS HA ZEL LANDIS MRS. LANDIS OLD TOM MAR TIN MISS SELINA TIBBS JUDGE BRISCOE SHER IFF JIM BARDLOCK HOMER TIBBS JOHN HARKLESS ZEN (XENOPHON) GIBBS FISBEE YOUNG WIL LIAM TODD RODNEY MCCUNE KEDGE HALLOWAY HELEN SHERWOOD MINNIE BRISCOE BOB SKIL LET TOM MEREDITH MAR THA SHERWOOD MR. MACAULEY TIME: 1889 and 1894. PLACE: Plattville and Rouen, In di ana. 5 © The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois For Janet Al len—a true Hoosier if ever there was one. © The Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois ACT ONE SCENE ONE IN THE DARK we hear a loud train whis tle—long and sad—fol lowed by the SOUND of a steam-pow ered train pull ing out of a train de pot.