Sillyheart

Book By: Billy W. Boone
Play #: 2350
Pages: 37 pgs
Cast: 5 m, 8 w, 12 flexible

In this one-act play, tragedy meets fantasy, myth meets reality. A fairy-tale world winds itself around the real drama of one little girl’s battle with cancer and her family’s anguish. As they struggle to cope with her prognosis and desperate treatment, the fairy tale characters from the little girl’s book play out their own drama. Will an evil sorceress and her dark creatures succeed in pulling Princess Caroline away from her beloved family and prince? Will little Cora’s experimental cancer treatment save her? In our imaginations, the villain is always slain, the good win out, and even happily ever after is truly possible. Our fantasies, like so many blankets, can keep us warm in times when the real world is simply too dark, cold and cruel to bear. At the end, we are reminded it’s not just children who need fairy tales. Originally performed for the 2012 UIL One-Act Play Competition, and approved for the 2014 UIL One-Act Play Competition.

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Productions

BRACKEN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
BROOKSVILLE, KY 9/28/2024
CHRIST CHURCH EPISCOPAL SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
GREENVILLE, SC 3/14/2024
MAGNET ACADEMY FOR CULTURAL ARTS 1 Performance(s)
OPELOUSAS, LA 2/15/2024
VERNDALE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2 Performance(s)
VERNDALE, MN 1/27/2024
TOPSAIL HIGH DRAMA DEPARTMENT 1 Performance(s)
HAMPSTEAD, NC 11/16/2023
CHRIST CHURCH EPISCOPAL SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
GREENVILLE, SC 11/3/2023
CHRIST CHURCH EPISCOPAL SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
GREENVILLE, SC 10/27/2023
GLENPOOL HIGH SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
GLENPOOL, OK 9/28/2023
VALLEY CENTER HIGH SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
NEWTON, KS 1/27/2023
CROSS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL 6 Performance(s)
OSCEOLA, NE 11/4/2022
KEALING MIDDLE SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
AUSTIN, TX 11/2/2022
HIGH SCHOOL 5 Performance(s)
SCOTTSBLUFF, NE 11/1/2022
ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL 12/2/2021
GAMBLE ROGERS MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
ST. AUGUSTINE, FL 5/19/2021
ALBRIGHT MS/T BANKS 1 Performance(s)
HOUSTON, TX 4/25/2021
CHS THEATRE 2 Performance(s)
BISMARCK, ND 4/9/2021
STARKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL 5 Performance(s)
STARKVILLE, MS 11/12/2020
OTTO MIDDLE SCHOOL - PLANO ISD 2 Performance(s)
PLANO, TX 2/14/2020
THOMAS HARRISON MIDDLE SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
HARRISONBURG, VA 1/15/2020
NORTH OAKS MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
HALTON CITY, TX 12/15/2019
HIGHLAND PARK DRAMA DEPARTMENT 2 Performance(s)
AMARILLO, TX 12/14/2019
FRIEND PUBLIC SCHOOL 4 Performance(s)
FRIEND, NE 11/20/2019
WASHBURN HIGH SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
WASHBURN, ND 11/14/2019
BECKENDORFF JUNIOR HIGH THEATRE 2 Performance(s)
KATY, TX 12/8/2018
MASSABESIC HIGH SCHOOL WEST 4 Performance(s)
WATERBORO, ME 10/15/2018
EUREKA SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
EUREKA SPRINGS, AR 4/27/2018
MILLSAP HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
MILLSAP, TX 3/19/2018
MILLSAP HIGH SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
MILLSAP, TX 3/7/2018
ELLIOT GRANT MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 2/9/2018
CAMAS HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
CAMAS, WA 10/12/2017
PERSONAL 1 Performance(s)
CAMAS, WA 10/11/2017
ST JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA 3 Performance(s)
ST JOSEPH, MI 5/4/2017
REICHER CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
WACO, TX 4/26/2017
MARKHAM WOODS MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
LAKE MARY , FL 12/10/2016
MANZANO MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
BROWNSVILLE, TX 11/17/2016
MOORESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
MOORESVILLE, NC 11/16/2016
MOORESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
MOORESVILLE, NC 10/20/2016
LONG TRAIL SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
DORSET, VT 3/19/2016
ROBERT STUART JR HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
TWIN FALLS, ID 3/15/2016
TWO HARBORS HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
TWO HARBORS , MN 1/30/2016
TOPSAIL HIGH DRAMA DEPARTMENT 1 Performance(s)
HAMPSTEAD, NC 12/15/2015
FOREST HILLS THEATRE DEPARTMEN 2 Performance(s)
MARSHVILLE, NC 11/5/2015
SAM HOUSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
GARLAND, TX 3/4/2015
NEWTON CONOVER HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
NEWTON, NC 11/21/2014
BATTLE CREEK PUBLIC SCHOOL 3 Performance(s)
BATTLE CREEK, NE 11/19/2014
KIMBALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS 4 Performance(s)
KIMBALL, NE 10/15/2014
BELLEVUE ISD 1 Performance(s)
BELLEVUE, TX 3/22/2014
NEWTON CONOVER HIGH SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
NEWTON, NC 3/15/2014
BELLEVUE ISD 2 Performance(s)
BELLEVUE, TX 3/5/2014
TRI-VALLEY SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
COLTON, SD 2/15/2014
JENA HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA CLUB 1 Performance(s)
JENA, LA 1/31/2014
ROYALTON HIGH SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
ROYALTON, MN 1/31/2014
JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL 1 Performance(s)
SAN ANTONIO, TX 12/15/2013
RAYMOND CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL 2 Performance(s)
LINCOLN, NE 11/25/2013
JACKSON TECH CENTER 2 Performance(s)
GARLAND, TX 2/12/2013

Behind The Scenes

PLAYWRIGHT BILLY W. BOONE

TALKS ABOUT “SILLYHEART”

 

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS PLAY?

My senior theatre students wanted to do a play that was part tragedy and part fantasy. And despite my best efforts, I could not find one that I thought would be appropriate for high school one-act play competition -- they were either too difficult to cut, subject matter not appropriate, or were too childish. So I set about to create my own play that would root the tragedy in the real world and let the whims of imagination take us to the fantasy. After I knew what I wanted to do, I allowed my wife and daughter to inspire the characters and the plot. Ultimately, I tried to marry the tragedy of the real world with a children's fairy tale. I chose to create my own fairy tale to avoid foreshadowing the outcomes in the real world. Everyone knows how Cinderella ends, so this way there is more intrigue for the audience.

 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PART OR LINE IN THE PLAY?

The funeral march and Cora's closing monologue, specifically the line: "Hope is for the silly hearted." To me this sums up the point of existence. Some people look at the tragedy and say how can you believe? To me, I see the tragedy, and need to believe.

 

WHERE DID THE CHARACTERS COME FROM?

In its infancy the characters of the family were based on my family. However, as the play evolved they took on a life of their own. In the end, they are quite different from the people who inspired them.

 

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?

A quote that has guided the writing and production of this play is this: "Of course it is happening inside your head, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"- J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”