 | STORY |
Co-written with Cynthia Mitchell, this play (incorporating early American songs) tells the story of 6 indomitable women lighthouse keepers in the 1800s. (The characters were originally written to be performed by one actress, although different actresses can perform the various roles.) With the exception of one character, all of the women portrayed are based on real historical figures. From 1776 to 1924, there were approximately 360 female lighthouse keepers and assistant keepers working in the United States. Many more women unofficially tended lighthouses with, or in place of, their husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons. Women of the Light is dedicated to these courageous women.
| PRODUCTION HISTORY |
Workshop Production, Delphic Institute, North Carolina, 1996
Workshop Production, Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, North Carolina, 1997
National Tour - maritime museums and schools, 1997
| SELECTION |
Character: Laura Hecox (1854-1919): Tended Santa Cruz Light, California. Self-contained,
reflective nature. Self-taught naturalist. Passion for creatures (living and fossilized) from the sea.
Wears a sunhat and carries a bag to collect specimens.
(LAURA ENTERS HUMMING "LOWLANDS". AS SHE SPEAKS, SHE SLOWLY PICKS UP NATURAL OBJECTS ALONG THE IMAGINARY SHORE.)
The sea contains a thousand mysteries. And if I live to be 100 I will never know all its secrets.
My life has been encompassed by boundaries. Polishing the light, keeping the station house neat
and orderly, writing the daily log entries. I perform all of these duties willingly for 750 dollars
per year. Enough to support my mother and myself.
My parents, Adna and Margaret Hecox, crossed this country in a covered wagon in 1846. Prairie,
desert, mountains, and then finally... the ocean. I was born 8 years later. I secretly believe
they came all that way because I needed to live by the sea.
Unlike my parents, I have traveled no great distance. My true home is, and always has been,
the bay ... this blue water with its barking seals and its' circle of boulders. Climbing
these rocks carved out by the sea, my hands cling like starfish to the wet granite.
Sometimes, without thinking, I plunge into the water to rescue a solitary tumbling stone.
What appears to be just an ordinary rock, I have turned over and there, offering itself to
me, is the delicate skeleton of a creature from an ancient sea. Gently holding my prize,
I watch the flesh move over my bones, starfish bones. Miraculous -- these traces of past centuries.
Throughout the country are fellow souls who share my passion for this saltwater world.
The letters we exchange, what pleasure as we dare to divine the pattern of this existence.
A new library is being built in town, supported by a Mr. Andrew Carnegie. I have been
approached by one of the trustees to donate my entire collection. Minerals, fossils,
sea shells, the bones of whales, the odd butterfly -- my treasures, my world. They
will have a room of their own, named -- after me. I have made up my mind to do just that.
I can supervise the installation while I am still alive. It must be done with care, the
utmost care and love, for the specimens are very, very old and some are quite fragile.
One of a kind. Unique. Like me. Genus: homo sapien. Sex: female. Occupation: Naturalist
and Lighthouse Keeper. Native to: Santa Cruz, California. Commonly known as: Laura
Hecox.