Oldest Living Confederate Widow: Her Confession

Burning Coal Theatre Company and Theater of the American South have joined forces on a new theatrical adaptation of Allan Gurganus’s novel Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. The stage version, entitled Oldest Living Confederate Widow: Her Confession, adapted by Gurganus and Jane Holding, is a one-woman show featuring actress Quinn Hawkesworth. With the script currently in development as part of Burning Coal’s “New Works” program, a staged reading is scheduled for Saturday, October 21. Reservations are required.

Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, a New York Times best-selling novel, was previously adapted for the stage by another writer. Featuring Ellen Burstyn, that production closed after a brief run on Broadway. Allan Gurganus then decided to collaborate with Jane Holding on his own theatrical adaptation of the book.

A fully staged version of Oldest Living Confederate Widow: Her Confession is scheduled as part of Theater of the American South’s 2007 season, running May 17 through June 3. Also, Burning Coal has scheduled Confederate Widow to open its new performance venue, the Murphey School, in the fall of 2007.