The Storekeeper - a stage play

Logline
An old, weathered general store sits alone on a long-forgotten highway... strangers gather, none quite sure how they got there, none know where they are going.

A Stage Play in Three Acts

Synopsis

Drama / Ethereal
8 characters - 4 male, 4 female
Full Length - Three Acts (63 pages)
Three sets: storefront, store interior, train station interior

A general store, old and all worn out, sits alone on a long-forgotten highway. A wooden porch runs the width of the weathered storefront. On the porch sits the Storekeeper, one arm draped across the back of the comfortable bench. He welcomes each of the new arrivals, one by one, as they come in off the highway. Strangers, all on foot, arriving from very different pasts; none know how they ended up there or where they are going.

A sign on the wall reads “To Trains”, an arrow pointing around the back of the store.

“Are we dead?”
“Oh, my no,” says the Storekeeper.
“Where are we going?”
“Expect we won’t know that till we get there,” answers the Storekeeper.

Will Dawson, the quiet, confident loner.
Edie Paulsen, a good person who’s been around the block a few too many times.
Wayne Saunders, coming from a world that just won’t give him a break.
Molly, teenager with secrets, abandoned, living on her own.
Mrs. Mayfield, elderly black woman, “going to visit her sister”.
Peter and Helen Harris, a young couple quite comfortable in their own environment, but currently far out of that environment.

They come from very different worlds, and as they will slowly discover, perhaps from very different realities, all brought together here… this old, weathered store, what the Storekeeper calls “the center of the universe”.

The front porch, inside at the lunch counter, and in the train station out back; at each point along the way, they learn a bit more… about their pasts, about who they are, and where they are going.

An ethereal tale with a strong “Twilight Zone” atmosphere.

Performance Rights
This stage play may not be performed without written permission from Greybeard Publishing.

Performance royalty fees:
- Amateur $75 per performance
- Professional 10% of gross box-office

High schools and nonprofit organizations may be able to perform The Storekeeper without paying a royalty fee. Contact us to request a release.

Now Also a Screenplay
The Storekeeper has been adapted as a screenplay. Visit screenplays for information on how to request prospectus and more.

Printed Editions Available
Printed copies of The Storekeeper can be purchased through greybeard publishing

Author Information

David R. Beshears
author, screenwriter & playwright
screenplays, novels, novellas,
short stories, stage plays

official author page
screenplays information
greybeard publishing
amazon author page