Tony Pasqualini

About BLEEDING HEARTS

Bleeding Hearts has received staged readings at Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Winterfest; and the new play series at Playwrights Studio West.

Synopsis:

In the wake of the shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a retired university professor, Edgar Shook, becomes obsessed with the vitriol a local radio talk show host. Edgar claims that poison is being spread throughout the country by certain members of the media, and that the inevitable result of all the inflammatory talk is violence. He sets out on what appears to be a ‘fool’s errand’ -- to confront the hatred going out over the airwaves, and put an end to the incivility and rancor of this particular host.

Edgar however has his own personal and family problems compounding his struggles. A few years earlier he was forced out of his university position because of an affair with a graduate student and the subsequent threat of a sexual harassment suit. Those events led to an ugly divorce from his wife, an uncomfortable relationship with his son, and estrangement from his daughter (who also happens to be the mistress and now second wife of an extremely conservative Arizona State Senator). Edgar is given a chance for redemption when he befriends the widow of a bystander killed during the Giffords shooting. But his confrontational actions continue to mar his efforts to do some good in the world, and eventually lead him to make a near-fatal error which may very well destroy any hope he has for repairing his life.

4 men; 3 women;

Cast of Characters:

Mark Hammer………………middle aged, radio talk show host

Edgar Shook…………………mid-fifties, retired university professor

Dylan Shook…………………mid-twenties, Edgar’s son, an actor

Linda Cartwright……………early thirties, Edgar’s daughter, married to a politician

Carol Shook…………………mid-fifties, Edgar’s ex-wife.

Wally Dixon…………………sixty, Carol’s boyfriend, owns sporting goods stores

Susan Campbell………………early fifties, a widow

(Note: In Act I, Scene 1, the voice over of Mary can be played by the actress playing Susan.

Also, in Act I, Scene 5 the off-stage voices can be spoken by various cast members.)

The play takes place in Phoenix, Arizona in the winter and spring of 2011.

The play is performed in two acts.

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