plays

THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES

David's adaptation of THE HOUSE OF SEVEN GABLES remains true to Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of haunting tragedy and romance. Mysterious deaths, hidden documents, ghosts of those long dead and lovers from opposite sides of a centuries-old curse surround a secret holding the key to a family's salvation. In this dark, Gothic love story, Hawthorne expresses the belief that new hope and promise can supersede the grim despair of the past.

David's adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's
The House of the Seven Gables was staged by
the Music and Drama Company of Derry, NH in late October.

Reviews of the production include:
The Best of the Week from the Concord Monitor.
...[an] "excellent adaptation" from the  Derry News.
...[an] "excellent  production ... creatively adapted for the stage by Manchester playwright David John Preece"
from the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Awards
New Hampshire Community Theatre Awards 2008
Winner: Best Original Script - David Preece
Music and Drama Company

Note: A dramatic musical background score
for THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES composed by Kathleen Dahill is available on compact disc for use with amateur productions for $19.99 (plus shipping).
Please contact www.wildwdstudios.com
for further information.

CHARLES DICKENS'S GHOST STORIES

CHARLES DICKENS'S GHOST STORIES is a collection of eerie Victorian tales from one of the world's greatest storytellers. Beguiled from early childhood by his nursemaid's stories of giants and demons, ghosts and monsters, Dickens harbored a lifelong interest in ghosts, apparitions and events of chilling coincidence.

While preserving the original material's humor, romance and eeriness, David's adaptation also evokes Dickens's fascination with the macabre. A lively mixture of comedy, pathos, and the supernatural, the stories include The Signalman, The Bagman's Uncle, The Queer Chair, and The Portrait-Painter's Story.

New Hampshire Community Theatre Awards 2007
Winner: Play, Director, Actress (2), Scenic Design, Lighting Design; Nominations: Original Play, Supporting Actor (2), Supporting Actress, Costume Design
 

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

Maintaining the original novel's dark and erotic themes, David's adaptation of THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY also evokes Oscar Wilde's cynical and flashing wit. The play tells the fascinating story of a wealthy young man, Dorian Gray, who after seeing his portrait, claims that he would sell his soul to remain youthful while the portrait ages in his place.

Influenced by the temptations of high society, Dorian embarks on a hedonistic life, fully exploring his intellectual, aesthetic, and sensual appetites. Despite his innocent beauty, he exerts a corrupting - and deadly - influence over many acquaintances. Meanwhile his portrait grows more hideous with each new sin, until in a fit of remorse he destroys it and himself.

 

TENDER

TENDER exposes the love-hate relationship between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, two of the most important American writers of the twentieth century. Based on true incidents, David's play focuses on their destructive relationship and shows how their dangerous intimate friendship spirals Fitzgerald's wife Zelda into the depths of madness.

Set in Paris, the play takes place one night in 1927 when Hemingway visits Fitzgerald for assistance with his first novel, The Sun Also Rises. In the course of a drunken evening, past truths are painfully revealed and lives forever changed.


 

LA Weekly Theatre Awards 2003:
Nominations: Playwriting, Leading Female Performance