North of Eden 

4m, 2w
1m 37-54, 1m 23-26, 1m 15-18, 1m 9-11; 1w 37-54, 1w 14-23

Forty miles north of Eden township in Indiana lies Fairmount, Indiana, where James Dean was raised by his father's sister after having been shipped there from California after his mother's death.  North of Eden shows glimpses of James Dean's childhood, populated by his aunt and uncle, their daughter, and her husband.  James Dean is portrayed by two actors: one for the actor in his mid-to-late teens and a Younger Jimmy of about 10, who has no spoken lines.

A unit set of the kitchen of his Aunt Ortense and Uncle Marcus is the setting for most scenes.  A few vignettes in the first act and a couple of scenes in the second act call for unlocalized scenes in pools of light.  No unusual props are called for.

North of Eden provides a tour-de-force role for the actor portraying James Dean, particularly as he performs a dramatic selection from Dickens's "The Madman's Manuscript," which won him a statewide Forensic League competition.  Hints of childhood sexual abuse are suggested, at the hands of the Reverend James DeWeerd, who appears only as an outstretched hand at the end of the first act (and which could easily be portrayed by a stagehand's hand).