The Tears of My Sister, The Prisoner's Song, The One-Armed Man and The Land of the Astronauts

THE TEARS OF MY SISTER follows Cecilia as she watches her sister Bessie try, and fail, to avoid marrying a man she doesn't love. Both young girls come of age in their own way as they learn that life is not always fair. (2 men, 4 women.) In THE PRISONER'S SONG, Mae tries to boost the confidence of her out-of-work husband, John, while he waits for the "right" job. Finally admitting he can't support them, he realizes he must take what is offered from an old friend of Mae's family, whose grief over the death of his daughter masks his own understanding of the hardships around him. (2 men, 2 women.) When McHenry, THE ONE-ARMED MAN, comes back to his old job to reclaim his arm lost in an accident, his old boss, C.W., is unsympathetic. The accountant, Pinky, tries to convey just how serious McHenry is, but only when McHenry shows C.W. the loaded gun, and then shoots him, do we all know how far he will go to become whole again. (3 men.) In THE LAND OF THE ASTRONAUTS Phil, who always wanted to be an astronaut, finally heads to Houston to try and find a job with the space station, just to be near the astronauts. His wife, Lorena, realizes something is wrong when, back at their home in Harrison, there is no word from Phil right before the long-awaited tap dance recital in which their young daughter, Mabel Sue, will dance. Lorena begins her search in Harrison and, with the help of good neighbors and off-beat lawmen and women, finds Phil wandering around Houston, preparing to go into space, but really half-crazed over his own failures. Taking him home, Lorena helps Phil find his mythical utopian land in his home and family. (10 men, 8 women, 1 boy, 1 girl, flexible casting).