Quilly Hall weds fiction and history in this powerful story, set in the 1940s in the Holston Valley near the town of Abingdon, Virginia. Daniel Boone twice camped here. The town itself served as a rail hub during the Civil War and cared for the wounded in its hospitals. The novel's title refers to a statuette whose presence in the old home's hallway haunts the story. Farley's novel traces the life of Thomas Edmonds, an only son whose father was killed in the battle for Guadalcanal, and who is raised by a bevy of family who regale him with their proud past. One of his ancestors--a veteran of the Battle of Chickamauga--is alleged to have buried a treasure under a rock in the fabled Knobs above the home place. Foray after foray is mounted in search of this rock and its secret. A favorite uncle and scruffy farmhands become Tom's mentors until he matures, attends Harvard, marries, and leaves for Vietnam. Farley's style and his story are gripping, compelling, and melodic. You will fall in love with each character and grieve as one by one they pass on.

Cast ages: adult.

A peasant boy, born with the mark of a three-thousand-year-old legend, kidnapped and sold into slavery. A general, bound by honor and duty, to command a vast army set out for conquest. A king, consumed by power and greed, accompanied by a dark wizard full of hatred and malice. A wizard of light, with visions of a young boy, and destinies entwined. Nionue led a simple life until the fateful day everything he knew had been taken from him. Set upon a path full of hardships and sorrow, he meets Cariaro, a general of commanding presence. Taken in and raised as the general’s own, he meets the love of his life and the happiness he seeks seems to finally be at hand. Yet he battles the destiny he does not desire. But that destiny cannot be ignored. Nionue must realize that despite his reluctance, he is… Born to the Legend.

(Applause Acting Series). This foray into the deeply serious and deeply funny (sometimes at the same time) world of life after 40 focuses primarily on scenes that depict the struggles of contemporary characters to come to terms with disappointment and obsolescence or to redeem their lives from the mistakes or miscalculations of their youth. It draws heavily on American classics like Long Day's Journey into Night , Death of a Salesman , The Price , Glengarry Glen Ross , Fences , and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , as well as more recent classics-in-the-making like August: Osage County , Good People , and God of Carnage . There is also ample representation from British playwrights like Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Simon Gray, and Peter Nichols, whose work also explores this territory of growing older in a society obsessed by youth and novelty.