The Traveling Lady

Melissa Sloan and Ken Greene play the leading roles in this play. They are both familiar to many who have attended plays at Masquers, and can be relied upon for quality performances.

In The Traveling Lady, playwright Horton Foote takes us to what seems to be a simpler time, the early 1950’s, in a small town in southern Texas. On the surface, it seems as though people at that time had more respect for one another. They addressed the men with a sir and the women with a ma’am. Their manners were much better than what we are used to in our time. But behind the gentility was a lack of tolerance for any behavior that was outside of what was considered acceptable.

This is the second Horton Foote play I have directed. The other was A Trip to Bountiful in 2003. His stories are not always happy ones, but they are chock full of warmth and humanity. You get the feeling that he not only understands what the human condition is like in less than desirable circumstances, but that he also has the heart to appreciate it. He really captures the flavor of the time, the bitter and the sweet.

Georgette Thomas, played by Melissa Sloan has given up everything to follow her dream, and her dream isn’t really much different than what most people want or take for granted if they have it, a home, a family, love and stability.

She arrives in a small town in southern Texas with her six-year-old daughter Margaret Rose, played by Melissa’s own daughter, Natalie Sloan and also by Sophia Giles. Georgette’s intention is to re-unite with her husband and be a family.

Caleb Henson plays Georgette’s husband, Henry Thomas. Henry is a talented musician who has been treated harshly by life and as a result has made some regrettable choices.

Georgette and Margaret Rose find themselves in the home of Clara Bredlove and her brother Slim, played by Barbara Sloan and Ken Greene. Clara is rock solid, and her back yard is the center of the action. Slim is a kind person and well respected in the community, but is very unsettled.

Their neighbors, Mrs. Mavis, an elderly woman and her middle-aged daughter Sitter Mavis provide the comic relief. Velda Shallenberger and Joan Fleming play those parts. Another neighbor is the temperance enthusiast Mrs. Tillman, played by Carol Boyce. Richard Light plays the Judge.

The Traveling Lady is suitable for the whole family. Even the cast has a family presence with three generations of Sloan women, and newcomer to Soap Lake, Joan Fleming with her daughter Sophia Giles.

Beverly Hasper, Director