Between Two Worlds
a play by Eileen Connolly
romance
…as thrilling as a kiss on the cheek, from a time when women wore gloves and men opened doors
comedy
…when a bumbling angel can only be seen by our young hero, hilarious confusion is certain to follow
drama
…will a heavenly tribunal separate our star-crossed lovers? Or can they correct their mistake and allow our pilot another chance at life?
This old-Hollywood style script merges a war time tear-jerker romance with a raucous and silly Marx Brothers-esque romp. Comic banter sits side by side with philosophical debates about life and death, and there’s plenty of room remaining for dancing angels and a romantic pas de deux, or two, set to the tunes of yesteryear.
The production is ideal for multimedia aspects, such as video projections of WWII newsreels, air planes, heavenly clouds, or the crashing waves off the coast of England where our play is set.
Characters:
3 female, 3 male, 1 nonbinary. The leading man is Hispanic, and the ethnicity for all other roles is flexible, except for the German Angel who needs to be white.
The cast can easily be made larger by adding more angels to the ensemble, and if some can dance—or fly on aerial devices— all the better!
TOM CORTEZ: US Air Force pilot, from Brooklyn, NY.
BETTY CHRISTIE: British volunteer at local airbase and hospital.
DR. ROSE BENNETT: Surgeon at the local military hospital.
ANGEL MUELLER: a Heavenly angel, 2nd class, formerly from Austria.
ANGEL PENELOPE: a Heavenly angel apprentice, and also the assistant to the District Attorney.
SOLDIER: a former American Army soldier, now in Heaven.
H.R./DISTRICT ATTORNEY: a Heavenly angel in charge of disciplinary hearings.
Synopsis:
Between Two Worlds is a refreshing and addictive feel-good romp, a tonic for this age of cynicism, that celebrates the old Hollywood style romances of a bygone era.
When a young pilot is shot down over the Channel without a parachute, he awakens on the coast of England with no memory of having gotten there. He keeps calm and carries on, as one did back then, and wanders into town to discover the love of his life. And all is well with the world. Or, it would have been, if an overworked Angel of Death hadn’t made a mistake. By saving the pilot before his plane crashed, this Angel of Death caused an imbalance in the universe. Now the pilot must attend a trial in Heaven to defend his life and offer evidence on why he should be allowed to return to it. Can love alone save this soldier?
Inspired by Michael Powell’s “A Matter of Life and Death.”
Production History.
HUDSON GUILD THEATRE, New York City
HERE ARTS CENTER, Spring Artists Lodge, New York City.
Cast Members: Andhy Mendez, Connie Rotunda, Annalisa Chamberlin, Zade O'Blenes, Joseph Goodrich, Dannie Flanagan, Kyle Quiring, Honor Molloy, Sarah Carradine, Richard Omar, Amy Bettina, Sophia Parra, Bradley Rose, Chad Erikson, and Sean Roschman.
“Between two worlds life hovers like a star twixt night and morn upon the horizon’s verge.”
— Lord Byron.
Read a sample
featuring: Andhy Mendez, Annalisa Chamberlin, and Joseph Goodrich
featuring: Andhy Mendez and Connie Rotunda
For interested producers and theater companies, please drop me a line below, and I’ll send you a script to read.
