David W Christner

A Tree Falls in Brookline David W Christner

Cormac McIntyre, a retired technical writer and Vietnam vet living in the Boston suburb of Brookline, is perhaps the most productive and obscure playwright in the country. Although largely unproduced and unrecognized, "Mac's" plan of becoming a practicing playwright never wavered through decades of day jobs that were as unfulfilling as they were challenging. Nonetheless, he persevered, turning his life experiences into a collection of award-winning plays dealing with serious issues: war, capital punishment, women's rights, racism, sexism, environmental exploitation, abortion and the homeless. Just when he and his work are beginning to get some recognition abroad a tree falls in Brookline, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury and only a fragmented recollection of his past. A skillful neuropsychologist and Mac's run-away wife think the key to his recovery may be through the characters he created in his plays over the years. Could they be right? Does every character he created represent some aspect of Mac's persona he can use to help piece together the pieces of his fragmented memory? Or is his muddled brain now just the jumbled mess of a damaged soul's fantasy world that will never make sense to anyone, least of all, him? Mac's roller-coaster ride through his tumultuous past to discover who he is in the present is a trip you'll not soon forget-no matter how hard you try!