The Trip to Bountiful

Synopsis: This is the poignant story of Mrs. Watts, an aging widow living with her son and daughter-in-law in a three-room flat in Houston, Texas. Fearing that her presence may be an imposition on others, and chafing under the watchful eye of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Watts imagines that if she can get away and return to her old home in the town of Bountiful, she is sure to regain her strength, dignity and peace of mind. So she attempts to run away, and when she reaches a bus station on the last part of her short journey, she falls into the hands of a sheriff whom her son and daughter-in-law have put on her trail. The sheriff, a kindly fellow, allows her to complete the final stage of her journey, so she proceeds to Bountiful and makes a lonely pilgrimage to the scene of her old home. Only too soon she learns that the friends of her youth have all died or scattered, and her home is no longer the spacious mansion of her memories but a crumbling wreck. But she has the supreme satisfaction of plunging her hands into the strength-giving earth, and this leaves her with a sense of that strength and dignity that will give her the courage to survive. When her son and daughter-in-law appear on the scene to take her back to Houston, she consents to return quietly, secure in the knowledge that the remainder of her existence will be enriched as a result of her last contact with Bountiful.

Cast

Mrs. Carrie Watts	Maureen Henry
Ludie Watts	Van Golden
Jessie Mae Watts	Joshilyn Jackson
Thelma	Heidi Bowen
Houston Ticket Man	Hunt Scarritt
A Traveler	Tim Bowen
Second Houston Ticket Man	David Maysonet
Harrison Ticket Man	Bill Fairchild
Sheriff	Daniel Mainwaring
Travelers	Amy Bruner
	Michael Evans
	Rebecca Stevenson
	George Spelvin

 

Production Staff

Director	Michael McKee
Assistant Director	Daniel Mainwaring
Scene Designer	John Pettegrew
Costume Designer	Nora Place
Lighting Designer	Peter B. Young
Technical Director	David Maysonet
Production Stage Manager	Susan Koffler
Properties	Amy Bruner
Lighting Control	David Heeg
Sound Control	Pam Perry