Shirley Burke Oaks

The Play, Cassie Marie Shirley Burke Oaks

This play is about Cassie Marie. It unfurls in Roselea Gap, a lovely and picturesque small Southern town, the kind of place one might see on a postcard, sigh softly, all the while wishing they had lived there. The play begins with the death of Jake Woodward, Cassie Marie's white lover, and ends with her mother's final attempt to save Cassie Marie's black soul. Cassie Marie longs to be a good christian girl, however the opportunities are few in Roselea Gap for a woman of color, even one that tries to hide her color under white powder. In the center of this human tragedy appears a young white girl named Shirley. She quietly surveys the people around her and finds another path that will stay with her always