Amazon Category:  Drama Publisher: Samuel French, Inc. ISBN-10:  0573612781 Type: Fiction Pages: 102 Copyright: Jan 1 2003 When the US Government tries annex the Morgan Family burying ground in the Missouri Ozarks for a munitions dump, ground which widowed Carrie Morgan regards as sacred ground, left to her to guard in trust, she mines the mountain top and posts a "No Trespassing" sign for the Army to see. In this case of the irresistable force meeting the immovable object, with neither side able to yield, the result inevitably leads to tragedy. Excerpt ACT ONE A Bird cries: "WHIP-POOR-WILL!" Pause: it cries again: "WHIP-POOR-WILL!" Slanting morning light discovers the Morgan Family buryin' yard - a small clearing atop an Ozark hill. At several graves, faded Veterans' flags hang limply in the rising heat. Down stage there is a low, coffin-like crypt: this is Davey Morgan's grave. Beside it, the small granite stone of Davey's son, "Jincy", guarded by a newish Vet's flag: Jincy's grave, however, is not new. Nearby, a weathered tool chest. On the other side of these graves, squatting to study the familiar outlines of his mother's grave, is JESS MORGAN. Jess wears crisp, new Army fatigues. He is 18, and he is his own man. As he rises, the Bird cries again: "WHIP-POOR-WILL."______ JESS (crosses to look Off, down the road to the Yard's entrance) ______ Hush you, bird.__________ (bird cries once more: "WHIP-POOR-WILL!")_______ I aint payin you no nevermind - this is too nice a day for dyin.

An American Critic on The Morgan Yard
Joe Pollack, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch __________ The Morgan Yard is a tragedy made more vivid because it happens on a sun-splashed afternoon, more timely because it points up the incipient disaster in massive confrontation, and it benefited from a strong performance Saturday night by the Kansas City-based Missouri Repertory Theatre, and directed by the author.

An Irish Critic on The Morgan Yard
J.J. Finegan in The (Dublin) Evening Herald _______ The voice of Siobhan McKenna singing a hymn, was heard at the Olympia a few minutes before she appeared, rifle on her shoulder, revolver on her right hip, as middle-aged, fresh faced, unassailable Carrie Morgan from the Ozark Mountains in Missouri ... and Carrie Morgan behaved like Brecht's Mother Courage, right down to the shattering scene where the bodies of her son and grandson are ready to be mourned ... It is a play that grows on one ... and Carrie Morgan is an enormous and exacting role ... Miss McKenna projects a marvelously absorbing portrait of an indomitable character.

An English Critic on The Morgan Yard
Liz Mullen, The (Colchester, Eng.) Evening Gazette _____ Kevin O'Morrison's new play, The Morgan Yard, had its European Premiere last night, giving Colchester's Mercury Theatre the most worthwhile material it has handled for months. The action takes place in Missouri at the burial plot of the Morgan family, which old Carrie Morgan refuses to hand over to the army as a munitions dump. She is prepared to defend the place where her loved ones lie, "Till the last trumpet". And slowly the atmosphere builds up to a shattering climax ... Carrie's defense plan has one thing in common with this production - sheer dynamite.