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In a Railway Station on the Western Plains

from Ruth Draper and Her Company of Characters: More Selected Monologues by Ruth Draper

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A woman working the late shift at a small town railway station is going about her quotidian duties when a call comes through that a train has crashed, resulting in many casualties. While she sets up the station as a makeshift emergency ward, she awaits word of Jerry, her fiance and the engineer of the wrecked train. During her lifetime, "Railway Station" was a popular favorite with Draper's audiences, but because of its melodramatic aspects, was probably the most parodied of her works. Marc Connelly, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Algonquin Round Table regular, concocted a spoof entitled "Train Wreck on the Western Prairie" which he performed at parties. According to author Louis Auchincloss, the spoof was particularly funny because Connolly was "overweight and bald, and he did the gestures so well." The monologue - the real thing, not the parody -- was first performed on November 17, 1920 in Cambridge, England, less than a year after Draper made her professional debut. This recording is previously unreleased.

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from Ruth Draper and Her Company of Characters: More Selected Monologues, released July 18, 2020

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Ruth Draper Brooklyn, New York

Ruth Draper was the undisputed queen of the one-woman theater in the 20th century. Throughout nearly forty years as a professional performer, Draper filled theaters all over the world through her unique ability to transform herself into a vast array of characters. Draper composed more than fifty monologues over the course of her career, seventeen of which are available here. ... more

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