Based on an Iowa cold case of the disappearance and death of teenager Marlene Padfield in 1959, this play combines actual news stories and radio reports with speculations about Marlene’s life when she attended Lisbon High School before dropping out.
Although the play explores some of the possibilities of what happened, it does not try to solve the case so much as to imagine Marlene through the eyes of a little girl, now grown, who is haunted by memories of how beautiful and wonderful she was. The sort of tragedy played out in this story is one that can happen anytime or anywhere. Themes of bullying, transience and small town bigotry provide talkback discussion for high school and community groups.
Main actors needed are Marlene, a teen aged girl; Susie as a grown woman in her 50s or 60s; and Susie as a child of 8 or 9. Up to a dozen or more adults and teenagers fill out various roles as actual people quoted in news stories and accounts as well as serve as a chorus of townspeople. A simple abstract set with various props and furniture pieces works well; costumes are pieces of simple period clothing.
