MULBERRY LANE Award-winning playwright Mary Miller invites you to spend the afternoon on MULBERRY LANE with Bernice and Clarice and discover what it means to be truly alive. AWARDS & NOTICES Winner National Playwriting One Act Competition, Dubuque, IA. Senior Barn Players Repertory Theatre Tour, Kansas City, MO. "ABSOLUTELY STUNNING" Autumn Players, Asheville Community Theatre, Asheville, NC. ABOUT THE PLAY Do old dreams ever die? If they don't ... is it ever too late to act on them? This is the question Clarice forces Bernice to answer one extraordinary day in August, while sitting on the back porch of an ordinary old folks home on Mulberry Lane. SETTING: The play takes place on the back porch of an old folks retirement home. The set can be as elaborate or as simple as possible. However, there should be a wooden park bench and a tall outdoor trashcan. CAST OF CHARACTERS: BERNICE: An elderly woman of indeterminate age (60-80). She is properly dressed in a conservative beige dress. She wears low sensible shoes and walks with a cane (although she doesn't always need it). Her hair is carefully knotted behind her head in a bun. Bernice is the personification of a traditional conservative elderly woman. CLARICE: An elderly woman just slightly younger than Bernice. She is dressed in a more stylish, contemporary, brightly colored dress, a bit flamboyant for a woman her age. Clarice's hair is haphazardly pulled up with bobby pins stuck here and there. There is a childlike innocence and joy about Clarice. She punctuates everything with a smile and is the visual opposite of Bernice. TIME: A hot mid-morning in August. The present. AUTHOR'S NOTE Although there is a good bit of bantering between Clarice and Bernice there should always be the underlying sense of love and support for one another. The teasing that occurs is natural between two people who've known each other for a long time. It should be lighthearted and funny. The pacing should be quick and upbeat at all times allowing for the humor to come through. It's important to note: the more upbeat the performances are the more poignant the play becomes.