Colorized covers are for web display only. Most covers are printed in black and white. © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. Colorized covers are for web display only. Most covers are printed in black and white. Drama. By Kent R. Brown. Cast: 1m., 1w. Early one September morning, in an isolated farmhouse in the middle of rural Nebraska, Rebecca Pender peeks out her bedroom window and sees a vision of the end of the world. The next day, she and her husband, Lucas, stand transfixed as they witness the collapse of the World Trade Center. Insidiously, the trauma of 9/11 unlocks within Rebecca’s psyche a Pandora’s box of repressed fears. She loses weight, obsessively sanitizes the house, claims the water is tainted, even prowls gun shops and army surplus stores. She fails to keep appointments with her psychologist, preferring to hide out in movie theaters or drive isolated back roads. Though Lucas does not fully embrace Rebecca’s deepening paranoia, he can’t envision life without her. He sells his business, helps Rebecca build an underground shelter and stockpiles food supplies and weapons. They sever all relationships with family, clergy and friends. But while Rebecca thrives on the energy of their collaboration, Lucas begins to decline—a voracious cancer has gripped his life. At last, Lucas takes his place in their front yard, flashlight in one hand, shotgun in the other, scanning the skies in search of the Armageddon that must surely be coming. In the Middle of Nowhere examines how fear poisons the soul like a virus, ravaging all who come in contact with it. Area staging. Approximate running time: 90 minutes. Code: IA3. Cover design: Jeanette Alig-Sergel. ISBN-10 1-58342-703-1 ISBN-13 978-1-58342-703-3 02011 Dramatic Publishing 311 Washington St. Woodstock, IL 60098 9 781583 427033 ph: 800-448-7469 www.dramaticpublishing.com Printed on recycled paper © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. IN THE MID DLE OF NO WHERE By KENT R. BROWN Dra matic Pub lish ing Woodstock, Il li nois • Aus tra lia • New Zea land • South Af rica © 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 LISH ING 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 before an au di ence. 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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, includ 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 vision, vid eo tape, for eign language, tab loid, rec i ta tion, lectur ing, publi cation 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. ©MMXI by KENT R. BROWN Printed in the United States of Amer ica All Rights Re served (IN THE MID DLE OF NOWHERE) ISBN: 978-1-58342-703-3 © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. For my wife, Gayle, whose love of life and sense of ad ven ture en rich each mo ment we share to gether. © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. IM POR TANT BILL ING AND CREDIT RE QUIRE MENTS All pro duc ers of the play must give credit to the au thor of the play 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, publi ciz ing or oth erwise ex ploit ing the play and/or a pro duc tion. The name of the au thor 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 (50%) the size of the ti tle type. Bio graph i cal in for ma tion on the au thor, 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 THE DRA MATIC PUB LISH ING COM PANY of Woodstock, Il li nois” © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. Ac knowl edg ments I wish to ac knowl edge the sig nif i cant con tri bu tions made by my wife, Gayle, and my good friend Melvyn Chase, who first brought Rebecca and Lucas to life. Their mul ti ple tal ents and in sights, so gen er ously shared dur ing an early de vel op men tal read ing, were in valu able in shap ing the heart and soul of the play. My deep ap pre ci a tion, also, to Candace Coster, Jeffrey D. Ault, Paul G. Barry and, es pe cially, to Stew art J. Zully, for their un wa ver ing en dorse ment and sup port. Prizes and Awards Win ner, Beverly Hills Thea tre Guild/Julie Har ris Play- wright Award Com pe ti tion, Beverly Hills, Ca lif., 2007 Win ner, Ac tors’ Thea tre Playwriting Con test, Santa Cruz, Ca lif., 2007 Win ner, ARTSport Playwriting Con test, Play house on the Green, Bridge port, Conn., 2007 5 © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. Pro duc tion His tory Feb ru ary 14, 2010: Staged read ing at Thea tre 40, Beverly Hills, Ca lif.; Artistic/Managing Director: Da vid Hunt Stafford. Cast ..............................Mitch ell Ryan Salome Jens Di rec tor .............................Bruce Gray No vem ber 14, 2008: Pro duced by the Sands The ater Cen - ter, DeLand, Fla., in association with Judy Thomp son and Deb Stan ley; Artistic/Managing Director: Jeffrey D. Ault. Cast ...............................Clark Ad ams Rene Sands Di rec tor ..........................Stew art J. Zully Stage Manager ........................Jo Crandall Set and Light ing.....................Il lu sion Sce nic Sce nic Painter .......................Debi McNabb Tech ni cal Direc tor .....................Ed Kirkland In ci den tal Mu sic.....................Ron Bienstock 6 © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. Sep tem ber 11, 2008: Pro duced by Santa Cruz Ac tors’ Thea tre, Santa Cruz, Ca lif., as part of their Full-Length Play Fes ti val; Pro duc tion Fa cil i ta tor: Wilma Marcus Chan - dler. Cast ................................Jaye Wolfe Mindy Ped lar Di rec tor...........................Robin Aronson Light ing De sign ............Kyle Grant, Paul An der son Set and Cos tume De sign ..............Robin Aronson Sound De sign ........................Jamie Amos Jan u ary 27, 2008: Staged read ing at the Sands The ater Cen ter, DeLand, Fla., as part of the DeLand Thea tre Fes ti- val; Ar tis tic/Man ag ing Di rec tor: Jeffrey D. Ault. Cast.................................Al Valletta Rene Sands Di rec tor ..........................Stew art J. Zully Pro duc tion Man ager ..................Jenny Barbieri No vem ber 11, 2007: Staged read ing at Play house on the Green, Bridge port, Conn. Cast ................................Keir Dullea Mia Dillon Di rec tor ............................Kate Katcher 7 © Dramatic Publishing Company, Woodstock, Illinois. IN THE MID DLE OF NO WHERE CHAR AC TERS: LUCAS PEN DER: A man of char ac ter, lov ing, de voted to his wife. REBECCA PEN DER: A woman of the land, fierce in spirit. TIME: From Sep tem ber 2001, to the pres ent. SET TING: A turn-of-the-cen tury farmhouse in May field, Neb., a small town in the mid dle of no where.