Production History

Del Shores’ Six Characters in Search of a Play appeared at CST as a one-day special engagement on Sunday, February 18, 2018, at 3 p.m., during Season 34 (2017–2018), at 800 W. Main Street. Inspired by real people Shores encountered, the solo show introduces six personalities whose stories had not yet found their way into his plays, films, or television work. Its title playfully references Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author. The six featured personas were Yvonne, Sarah, Jimmy Ray, Loraine, Marsha, and Aunt Bobbie Sue. Contemporary touring publicity describes Yvonne as an anti-vegetarian waitress, Sarah as an elderly actress, Loraine as a former drama teacher, and Marsha as a woman with COPD who dislikes monkeys. These accounts correct the earlier descriptions of Yvonne as an anti-aging devotee and Loraine as a prison inmate. Shores himself is the storyteller, rather than a replacement for Aunt Bobbie Sue in the six-person roster. Spellings of “Bobby/Bobbie Sue” varied across publicity.

CST Connections

CST’s event publicity identified previous productions of Shores’ Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got the Will?) and two stagings of Sordid Lives before this appearance.
Shores’ visit brought the playwright himself to the theatre as a guest performer, extending CST’s connection with his work beyond locally cast productions.
CST subsequently presented Sordid Lives again as its Season 42 finale in July 2026.

Press and Photography

“What to Do in Oklahoma on Feb. 18, 2018: See the One-Man Show ‘Six Characters in Search of a Play’ at Carpenter Square Theatre” — The Oklahoman, promotional column attributed to Brandy McDonnell, published February 17, 2018, according to the supplied research.
Del Shores’ official biography, confirming the national tour and Emerson Collins’ direction. delshores

Acknowledgments

Season Sponsors — Ed and Janet Bucknell; Mel and Cindy Ables

Supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Allied Arts, and Kirkpatrick Family Fund.

THEATRE UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

Del Shores