"Ceremony"
                                                                            (c) 1997 by Lawson Caldwell

Synopsis
Time: The first scene takes place twenty some years before at the wedding of Grant and Barbara. Sarah
and Field address the audience.  This is the only time during the play that any characters address the
audience.  The subsequent scenes take place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at Grant and
Barbara’s beach house on the coast of North Carolina.  The final scene takes place on New Year’s Eve a
year later.

Location: Grant and Barbara’s beach house on the coast of North Carolina

Synopsis:

Field, Grant, Barbara and Sarah have been friends since college. Grant and Barbara married right out of
college.  Sarah went on to become a prominent figure on the political scene.  Field went on to become a
very well known playwright.  Ken is the young, athletic and handsome son of Grant and Barbara.  Lisa is
the bright young daughter of Sarah and one of her four former husbands.  Lowell is the young man who
assists Barbara with her work and looks after Grant and Barbara’s beach house. They gather
periodically, especially around holidays, for visits.  The opening scene takes place on Grant and Barbara’
s wedding day.  The remainder of the play takes place on New Years Eve and New Years day twenty
years later.  The seven have gathered at Grant and Barbara’s ocean front home on the coast of North
Carolina to celebrate.  Situations arise when Barbara must confront her husband and the others with the
fact that she must go away to find herself.  Sarah, on the edge of yet another marriage proposal, tries
one last attempt to lasso Grant, whom she thinks she should have married.  Field and Ken must somehow
announce their relationship to the others.

Cast of Characters:
  1. Grant   -Grant is in his early forties and has a very calm personality.  He is a very successful
    businessman who adores Barbara.
  2. Barbara -  Barbara is in her early forties.  She is a the former homecoming queen who married right
    out of college and is now pondering how to find herself while surrounded by over achievers.  Her
    character is very kind.
  3. Field – Field is in his early forties and has a very dry sense of humor.  He is a successful
    playwright  who ives in New York and has fallen in love with Ken.
  4. Sarah – Sarah is very loud and domineering.  She is self-centered and would never admit that she
    has any flaws.  Sarah is a prominent figure in the political scene in Washington.
  5. Lisa - is very intelligent and has a very grounded personality despite being Sarah’s daughter.  She
    is in graduate school.
  6. Ken - Ken is athletic, young and very much in love with Field.  In addition to attending graduate
    school in New York, he is an aspiring photographer.
  7. Lowell -  is around the same age as Lisa and Ken.  He is going to school and working for Grant and
    Barbara.