''Hazzard County'' is a full-length comedy-drama, written by

Allison Moore ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hid ...

, which premiered in 2005 at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The story centers on a young widowed mother and a visit she receives from a big city television producer. Interspersed with recollections of Bo, Luke, and Daisy, the play takes a deep look at southern "Good Ole Boy" culture and its popularization through the lens of American mass media

Characters

*Ruth - Widow, almost 30. White. *Quinn - Ruth's son, eight *Quintin - Ruth's daughter, eight *Camille - Ruth's Cousin, older, hardened. *Blake - 30 -35, TV producer from Los Angeles, of indeterminate heritage

The Monologues

''Note: The following characters are sometimes played by Quinn and Quintin.'' *Chad - young, white, from an outer-ring suburb of Atlanta, GA. *Jessica - 20's white, from Manitoba, Canada. *Tim - 40's, white, professional from Kansas City *Martin - 30's-50's, white, Ivy League professor *Jeffery - 30's, white, urban professional, native of South Carolina, transplanted to Providence, RI *Cherilynne - 60's, white, gracious southern lady.

Setting

A rural town in Kentucky, present day.

Synopsis

Ruth, a young widow has recently been thrown out of her home. She is unable (or unwilling) to access the trust fund set up after her husband's (Michael) death. The story of her husband's murder comes out after meeting Blake, a producer from LA. Blake sees this as the story that will help him break into the bigtime - "The story of a young woman, doing the right thing under impossible circumstances." However the story becomes less clear cut as more information about the murder is revealed. The killers were black, the money in the trust fund may have come from white supremacist groups, and Michael was flying a Confederate flag on his truck the night he was shot. The question is raised - "Whose civil rights were violated first?" as we follow Ruth, her children, and the rest of the cast down a memory lane speckled with stereotypes.

Themes

This play is based on a true story.Tony Horwit
A Death for Dixie

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

In 1995, Michael Westerman was shot in his truck near

Guthrie, Kentucky Guthrie is a home rule-class city in Todd County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 1,419 at the 2010 census. Geography Guthrie is located at (36.647396, -87.170725). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has ...

. He was, at the time, flying a Confederate flag on the back of his truck. Later, he was declared a martyr by the Sons of Confederate Veterans - "First man to die under the flag in 130 years." When asked about the flag, the shooter responded "I thought it was just the 'Dukes of Hazzard' sign."

References

2005 plays American plays Comedy plays Plays based on actual events Plays about race and ethnicity Plays set in Kentucky {{2000s-play-stub