Del Shores Play Collection: Six Playbooks, All Signed by Del Shores

Available for the first time anywhere, you can now purchase the Del Shores Play Collection! One of our most talented and respected Southern playwrights, Del Shores has penned some truly timeless Texas comedies and dramas. Among the six plays included in this collection: Del’s first commercial hit (and most produced play!) “Daddy’s Dyin’… Who’s Got the Will?”; the powerhouse comedy “Sordid Lives”, which spawned a hit film and television series; the groundbreaking, award-winning drama/comedy “Southern Baptist Sissies”; and the masterpiece “Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife”, which hits the “big screen” in 2012! Each play is autographed by the author himself!!

THE DEL SHORES PLAY COLLECTION INCLUDES THESE SIX WORKS:

”Cheatin’”

Before Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will? and Sordid Lives, there was this award winning comedy set in the west Texas watering hole of Lowake. Gossip, the town’s major pastime, ignites a blaze of infidelity that engulfs three couples with the zany precision of a Feydeau farce. The clan includes Bo Bob, the dimwitted mailman, and Clarence, local stud and mechanic who’s been messin’ with Ovella since high school. His faithful girl is Sara Lee Turnover, the beautician. Teddy Joe, Ovella’s wronged husband who is more brawn than brain, Maybelline, the overweight waitress who wants to be in love, and a narrator/story teller/singer who doubles as a psychic and believes in happy endings complete the cast. The comedy is fast paced and touching with a sense of authentic Texas humor.

“First rate!” - Hollywood Reporter

“Hilarious!” - L.A. Daily News

“A hotcake of a Texas comedy.” - DramaLogue

“An entertaining, truly hilarious eruption of bucolic wit.” - Kansas City Star

“Daddy’s Dyin’… Who’s Got the Will?”

“Set in a small Texas town in anytime, U.S.A., Daddy’s Dyin’ concerns the reunion of a family gathered to await the imminent death of their patriarch, who has recently suffered a physically as well as mentally disabling stroke. In essence, however, it is not the story of the impending demise of the father or of the drafting of his will, but of a rebirth of the spirit of the family unit. Without becoming ponderous, losing a sense of humor or pandering to timeworn cliches about Texans or Texas drawls, the story shares many elements of a good summer novel: it’s a fast, delicious, easy read with funny moments, tense moments, touching moments, and characters you care about.” -The Hollywood Reporter

“A masterful comedy.”-Variety

“A well written piece of mainstream theatre that’s consistently funny and occasionally touching.” The Los Angeles Times

“Daughters of the Lone Star State”

This is the third of the Lowake, Texas series. It’s the day before Christmas Eve and The Daughters of the Lone Star State are having their annual meeting. The old group is dying out, literally, so this year’s effort to attract members is all out. When “white trash” and “coloreds” arrive, chaos erupts.

“Bright, fresh, funny, vividly executed. This is Grade A comedy with a punch.” L.A. Village View

“The dialogue snaps, crackles and bounces like popcorn poppin’.” DramaLogue

“Racism is an emotional subject and your ability to confront it at a humorous level proves Shores’ great talent.” Ann Richards, Governor of Texas.

“Sordid Lives”

A black comedy about white trash! This now-classic comedy was nominated for over thirty awards during its long run in Los Angeles, and eventually became a hit movie and television series. When Peggy, a good Christian woman, hits her head on the sink and bleeds to death after tripping over her lover’s wooden legs in a motel room, chaos erupts in Winters, Texas.

“[This play by] the master of Texas Comedy … is maybe funnier than Daddy’s Dyin’. His colorful eccentrics are dead on, teetering on a Bowie knife’s edge between the hilariously improbable and the achingly real.” – L.A. Times

“Run, don’t walk to Del Shores new play!” – DramaLogue

“Southern Baptist Sissies”

Follows the journey of four gay boys in the Baptist Church. Storyteller Mark Lee Fuller tries to create a world of love and acceptance in the church and clubs of Dallas, Texas, while desperately trying to find a place to put his own pain and rage. The world Mark creates also includes two older barflies, Peanut and Odette, whose banter takes the audience from hysterical laughter to tragedy and tears. With a theme of religion clashing with sexuality, the play opened to rave reviews in Los Angeles during its original run in 2000 and became the most awarded play of the year, winning the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding LA Theater Production, as well as multiple LA Weekly Theater Awards, Los Angeles Critics Awards, Ovation Awards, Backstage West Garland Awards and Robby Awards.

“Daring. Heroic. No-holds-barred hilarious.” - LA Times

“Cathartic, comedic, awe-inspiring.” - Daily Variety

“Brash, sensitive and compelling. An evening of engrossing and, at times, hilarious theatre.” - The Hollywood Reporter

“Wrenching as it is hilarious.” - Dallas Morning News

“The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife”

Music by Joe Patrick Ward
Lyrics by Sharyn Lane, Del Shores & Joe Patrick Ward

Willi is the trailer trash housewife of the title, not necessarily of her own volition. Her abusive husband won’t let her get a job, one of her children is dead, and the other is verboten by her husband because he’s gay. Her best and only friend, a large black woman who lives next door, worries about her constantly, always concerned that Willi’s husband will end up killing her. A new woman comes to live in the trailer park and ends up having an affair with Willi’s husband. When she finds out, Willi decides to get a job at the local Wal-Mart (a first step on the way to liberating herself from him). Her husband will have none of it, and quoting the bible about how a wife is supposed to obey her husband, threatens all three women with a gun, and then beats Willi to within an inch of her life. She recovers enough to finally shoot him, releasing her from the torment that she’d been living in for years. A blues singer weaves songs into the action, commenting upon Willi’s predicament and urging her toward decisive action.

“A feat of breathtaking audacity.” – Critics Choice, – Los Angeles Times

“Shores manages to fully explore Willadean’s horrific plight while infusing the work with such hilarity the audience is often reduced to tears and laughter within the same breath.” – Daily Variety