| Sneak Previews Synopses of plays by Robin Byrd |
| It is the turn of the century, in a Midwestern town...any town. The house...any house. The family...just like all the other families with secrets that kill and hurts that are covered over with day to day breathing. Huron has lived through wars, the deaths of two sisters and a wife. He has functioned beneath the heavy scrutiny of a mother so afraid to let him be a man she refuses to see him. He has settled into the easy pace of just getting by until the death of his best friend, Willie Big Spirit White. Willie was a self professed shaman. He held the memories of loved ones in his spell. He made them real again. And for Huron, he made the battle cries silent. Unable to live without him, Huron sets on a journey to bring Willie back to life; thus, he begins a five-night ritual of the Ghost Dance. Each night of the Ghost Dance opens up the family to the truth about Huron's sister found dead 24 years before and the children she brought into the world. It leaves bare the fear that has Huron's niece so terrified that she, literally, is unable to leave the porch. Mama Lee, seeing her family is either dead or dying before her eyes decides that she must equip them to survive, that she must push Huron into his rightful place even if it means her own life. During the five nights of the Ghost Dance, the past and the present collide to make room for the future. Willie does come back but to a changed Huron who has finally stepped into his place as head of the family, as the center of the dream catcher. With the truth about Willie revealed, Huron must decide if this aberration deserves to live again or how to kill it if it does not. Copyright 2001 by Robin Byrd |
| In the late 1700s, in Gloucester, England, there lives a man named Robert Raikes, Jr. Robert Raikes, Jr. is the son of a journalist and the grandson of two preachers. He is the editor of "The Gloucester Journal." His plight begins with backlash from his work in the prison system to teach the prisoners to read and write. He decides that in order to make a true change in society's downward spiral, he must get to the children before they become the next generation of hardened criminals to live within England's prison walls. Nicknamed "Bobby Wild Goose" by his adversaries because of his wild unabashed approach to change, he sets out to teach the children of 18th century England to read and write. These are the children of the industrial period, the chimney sweeps and factory workers who are forced to work all day, almost 7 days a week, with Sunday being the only guaranteed day off. Bobby Wild Goose runs head on into the iron gates of the Church of England and its parliament especially the scornful rebuke of Lord Spensworth and his henchmen for it is only lawful for the Church of England to educate its people and outside of its walls, there are none qualified to handle the task. And, it is Lord Spensworth who has sworn to himself to stop "Bobby Wild Goose." Robert Raikes, Jr. is aided by his friend, the rector of St. John the Baptist Church, Thomas Stork and encouraged by John Wesley. As "Bobby Wild Goose" readies himself for the battle of his life, he is enlightened by visions of the future. His visitors, from 1999 Los Angeles, California, intrude into his world of old England to bring him a glimpse of what his efforts will beget in the generations to come. With his wife, Anne, the love of his life andthe ten children she bore him, Robert Raikes, Jr. plunges head on into his destiny. Losing along the way two of his beloved children, Robert Raikes, Jr. must steady himself even in this devastation to continue. The play is based on the true story of how Robert Raikes, Jr. teaches England's socially forgotten children to read and write. His battle with the Church of England to legally run a school is won in 1779 with the passage of a new law, "the Enabling Act." This is a story about the journey from the dream to destiny, the battles and victories in between, and the beginning of new things.... The play takes us on a fantastic journey through 18th century England and the beginning of the Sunday School Movement. Copyright 1999 by Robin Byrd |
| The Day of Small Things |
| Dream Catcher |