Amulets Against the Dragon Forces

Mrs Boyd, a divorced practical nurse, makes a living by caring for terminally ill patients, moving from house to house with her sensitive, lonely, teenage son, Chris

As the play begins Mrs Boyd and Chris arrive at the home of Mrs Dipardi, who is dying of cancer, and whose profane, hard-drinking son, Floyd, has alienated the neighborhood by flaunting his fond- ness for young boys and throwing noisy backyard parties

Suffocated by his over-protective mother and rejected by his absent father, Chris strikes up a friendship with Harold, a young hustler who has moved in with Floyd

But their relationship, like the others in the play, founders on the pervading bitterness and alienation which, inevitably, bring on a series of explosive and emotionally charged confrontations

Eventually Chris, unlike the others, does find the self-awareness - and courage - to overcome his circumstances and, as the play ends, the suggestion is strong that he will, in time, come to terms with the "dragons" that have beset, and shaped, his troubled youth

A powerful and deeply moving study of the destructive effects of lovelessness and loneliness on a sensitive adolescent. Presented to critical and popular acclaim by New York's highly regarded Circle Repertory Company

"Amulets becomes gripping and disturbingthe characters are invariably fascinating " ~ NY Times

" absorbing and vividly written study of mid-50s lower-middle-class alienation and emotional hunger it's the work of a true playwright" ~ Variety