Plays by Charles Deemer (partial list)


For the traditional stage (year of premiere production in parenthesis):

"The Pardon" (1979) - a man who defected to Canada during the Vietnam war returns home to try and make peace with his father. Became screenplay of same name, which is optioned.

"Ramblin': the Songs and Stories of Woody Guthrie" (1979) - a one-man performance by playwright Charles Deemer based on the songs, letters and journals of the legendary folk artist.

"Country Northwestern" (1981) - the last day in a town to be flooded by a new dam brings together a formerly married couple (the woman a country music superstar, the man down and out) and an attempt to heal the past.

"The Half-Life Conspiracy" (1983) - an alcoholic sitcom writer wins a one-act play contest, only to learn that the play is directed by his ex-wife, who left him for another woman.

"Christmas at the Juniper Tavern" (1984) - unemployed loggers confront the followers of guru Swami Kree in a Christmas comedy about vastly different spiritual paths. Published by Arrowood Books, 1985.

"The Comedian in Spite of Himself" (1984) - a drama/comedy based on the life of Moliere. Rewritten as "Sad Laughter" in 1993.

"Waitresses" (1985) - A mother fights to keep her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. Became the screenplay "Ruby's Tune" (Raindrop Productions).

"Testing" (1986) - by Vladimir Koshkov, translated from the Russian. A one-act farce about mixed identities in a Moscow radio station on the day of the American first nuclear strike.

"Varmints" (1989) - A Pinkerton detective follows a gold heist from Chicago to the gold fields of 19th C. Oregon in this mystery/comedy about blackmail and pretension.

"Who Forgives?" (1996) - A recovering sex offender is confronted by a relative of one of his former victims, herself a recovering alcoholic, and both their recoveries are jeopardized.

"Famililly" (1997) - At the Wellington family union on the Bicentennial, two family secrets crash head-on during a costume party (George and Martha Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin) and challenge what it means to be a family in America today, what it means to raise a child, and what it means to die with dignity.

"Bedrooms & Bars" (1998) - Two barflies meet and fall in love, then have to deal with their private truths and fantasies.

Environmental "simultaneous action" plays:

"Chateau de Mort" (1986) - the soap opera saga of the Brodey family, performed in a mansion.

"Bateau de Mort" (1987) - its sequel, performed on a riverboat sternwheeler. Rewritten as "The Bride of Edgefield" (1995-6).

"Turkeys" (1987) - espionage at a family Thanksgiving dinner, performed in a bed & breakfast inn.

"Rancho!" (1988) - blackmail and seduction among the rich, performed in a financial center.

"Cocktail Suite" (1988) - three self-contained and intertwining plays performed in a restaurant/lounge: "Lonely and Horny in the City," "The Contract" and "A Chateau for Mort."

"The Bride of Edgefield" (1996) - the Chateau sequel adapted to McMenamin's Edgefield Bed & Breakfast Resort.

"The Last Song of Violeta Parra" (1996) - one-act hyperdrama about two artists who believe that the CIA assassinated the famous Chilean protest singer. Premieres in October, 1997, in Santiago, Chile (in Spanish).

For more information about any of these scripts, contact Charles Deemer at (503) 452-8277, or email to: cdeemer@teleport.com


SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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