The Valiant Stage Play Adapted by Lee Wilson

TITLE: The Valiant

CAST SIZE: Male 4, Female 1 * Can be cast nonbinary.

AUTHOR: Lee Wilson from Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass

CATEGORIES: Adaptation, Period, One-Act

SYNOPSIS:

Adapted from the original by Holworthy Hall and Robert Middlemass, The Valiant tells the story of James Dyke, a confessed killer who has been sentenced to die and now awaits his fate at a prison in Connecticut. While waiting to be executed on death row, the warden, chaplain, and others fight to learn his real identity and why he is so determined to take this secret with him to the grave. The night of Dyke’s execution, a young woman shows up adamant that this prisoner is her long-lost brother. We are taken through many twists and turns, and she tries to unlock Dyke’s past with questions and triggers. Is he, or isn’t he, her brother? Shakespeare himself will be conjured to try to extract the truth. The Valliant’s ending is as shocking and moving as any ending seen or heard on the stage. Family, history, love, mystery, poetry, relationships, and war are all brought together in this brilliant adaptation of this well-known one-act play.

Photo by David Hou

Douglas E. Hughes as Warden Holt

Marla Maclean as Josephine Paris