Character Breakdown
(in order of appearance)
Lawrence S. Hall (Larry), age 78, is a charismatic, ornery and charming ghost who does not act or look the least bit dead. Hall is a fictional character loosely based on Lawrence S. Hall who died in 1993 in his home on Orr’s Island Maine where the play takes place. Hall wrote The Ledge in 1959. The Ledge was awarded first prize in the O. Henry Short Story Competition in 1960. Hall based The Ledge on a true story, the details of which are woven into Bird of Passage. Hall speaks with a patrician New England accent, a good example of which can be heard in this video of George Plimpton.
Marilyn is a successful, middle-aged real estate agent and year-round resident of Bath or Portland. She is ambitious and businesslike. Her professional demeanor is pleasant, informative and tough. Her Maine accent is almost gone. She is more sophisticated, urban and edgy than everyone else.
Ginny is a struggling writer in her mid-forties, single, without family. Although raised in the Midwest, Ginny has been living anywhere she can find work as a caretaker in exchange for rent – often abroad – in order to write. She has a long history of climbing out on one limb after another. As the play begins, she has just returned from renting a cottage in mid-Wales and is seeking a remote sanctuary where she can write about what happened there. She is open-minded, smart, impulsive, compassionate. Ginny is, not always by choice, a bird of passage.
Rose, (Rosie) mid-fifties, was Hall’s cleaning lady and friend. As a lobsterman’s daughter and native of Harpswell, Rose kept Larry company through the long Maine winters. Married to an iron worker who does not always treat her well, Rosie found companionship with Larry. She is loyal, fair-minded, outgoing and frank. Her Maine accent can be heard on this YouTube video.