Still Life With Nudes-One Act

George Johnson

50 minute comedy
3 men, 4 women

A group of high-spirited seniors, the Ancient Acorns, stage a sit-in at a gallery that just happens to be a former water treatment plant. The reason? Their leader, Betty Dilliwick’s enormous paintings of her friends have been rejected. The Acorns confront the management. A fracas erupts. A multimedia, interactive installation is born, and pleases almost everyone except prim and proper Acorn President Helen Archer. She has taken the moral high road from the beginning and winds up taking a splash in the Fountain of Youth, a former cistern. Comes in 1 act or 2 act versions.

This play is a winning combination of engaging characters, smart dialogue, witty interaction, very solid dramatic structure and, most importantly, a lot of heart! — Colleen Murphy

Winner: National Playwriting Competition
Winner: Gladys Cameron Watt Award in the 67th Canadian One Act Playwriting Competition
Finalist: McLaren Memorial Comedy Play Writing Competition

“This production was enthusiastically received by our retirement community audience. ‘Still Life’ is a great comedy with some underlying insights about aging and body image. The characters are well drawn and there is some fun word play. As we are a Readers Theatre, I gave a brief introduction describing our nonexistent stage setting ending with, ‘Spirited senior citizens are about to descend on this pretentious gallery. I think I hear them coming.’ The ‘Ancient Acorns’ then marched through the audience onto the stage singing their fight song and carrying the placards described in the script. The audience was charmed.”
J. Willis, WA

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Also available in a Full-Length version