The Digital Elvis Project

This site contains the play Elvis People, which explores the impact of Elvis Presley on American culture. The material is extensive, far longer than can be contained in a single play; the purpose of this website is to make the material totally flexible. Any theatre producing this has the right to cut and reshape this material in any way it sees fit.

I have shaped the material into a two-hour play, listed below as The Prototype Play. Additional material is found in the section titled Addendum. If you wanted to produce the play, for instance, but didn't like some of the scenes or monologues, you could substitute material from the Addendum.

All the material contained in the Prototype Play and Addendum is found in the file Digital Media Elvis ? this file contains brief descriptions of all scenes. This gives you the freedom to shape your own play out of the material. This material is searchable and sort-able: by typing in a keyword, you can retrieve all the relevant scenes and monologues. There is a file titled Keywords to let you know what can be searched.

A few words about the play overall:

This play is a collage, and consists of self-contained scenes and monologues. There are numerous characters, and the casting is totally flexible. The play would probably work best with a cast of 8 or 10 (any number above that would work fine as well); it could be done with as few as 6. The female-male ratio is flexible; an equal number of men and women would work best.

The play contains scenes, monologues, and litanies. In the litanies, the various lines are separated by a single space; in performance, the lines would alternate through the various cast members. Again, it is totally flexible and up to the director how the lines are distributed among the cast.

The titles of the scenes (in bold) could be included in the performance (spoken by an actor; flashed on a sign, etc.) but it's not necessary.

The stage environment is likewise totally flexible. You could have an elaborate set, or none at all. All you really need to stage the play are a few chairs and a table. The play obviously takes place in a variety of locations, but the location (if important) is apparent from the context of the scene. There are only a few specific props that are called for. Since each actor plays multiple parts, perhaps the costuming could have an overall "uniform" effect, with accessories used to define character. But as with the set, the overall tone should probably be somewhat abstract and minimal, so that no time is taken between scenes.

This is copyrighted material. Performance rights can be obtained by contacting Doug Grissom at LDG2h@virginia.edu.

Table of Contents

The Prototype Play: Elvis People	This is a complete draft of a two-hour production of this material. You may access the entire play or the individual scenes.
Digital Media Elvis	This is all the material (Prototype Play plus Addendum) in one location, with short descriptions of each section.
Addendum	This is additional material which can be used in lieu or in addition to the material in The Prototype play.
Keyword List	Provides information about what topics can be searched.
Search Digital Elvis	This function allows users to search Digital Media Elvis by keyword