This site has limited support for your browser. We recommend switching to Edge, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.

Not sure where to start? Discover all our scripts

Talk to one of our experts here

Thank you for purchasing with Stagescripts

Shopping basket 0

Sorry, looks like we don't have enough of this product.

Products

Need help? Contact our team here

Pair with
Subtotal Free
Shipping, taxes, and discount codes are calculated at checkout
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Google Pay
  • Maestro
  • Mastercard
  • Shop Pay
  • Union Pay
  • Visa

Your Cart is Empty

Musicals
Plays
Pantomimes
Other
Apply for a Royalties Quotation

Emerald

Chris Burgess and Denise Wright

Genre: Drama

Cast size: 18

Duration: Two Act

Chris Burgess and Denise Wright | Musical | Full-length | Principals : 4m, 4f Support : 4m, 6f

Short synopsis

Grace abandons her life in Manhattan and moves to the secluded seaside town of Ennismuck in the West of Ireland. However, as soon as she arrives she clashes with a mining corporation buying up properties and decimating the land. Grace campaigns to save Ennismuck, and starts a prickly relationship with truculent local artist, Mulcahy. Both ventures prove to be perilous. But Grace manages to topple the mining company's monopoly, and, eventually, thaw Mulcahy’s frozen heart. By the end of the story she has arrived at a place she can truly call home. ‘Emerald’ is about the search for home. An ambitious large-scale show, it has an ensemble that could consist of an entire Irish village. It is set in the present day, but in the backwaters of Ireland, so although it is contemporary it has strong links with an ancient past. The Irish-American score is lyrical and passionately rhythmic.

  • Synopsis
  • Characters
  • Awards

She came to Ireland for a quiet life. But that’s the last thing she got..."

Grace abandons her life in Manhattan and moves to the secluded seaside town of Ennismuck in the West of Ireland.  However, as soon as she arrives  she clashes with a mining corporation buying  up properties and decimating the land.

Grace campaigns to save Ennismuck, and starts a prickly relationship with truculent local artist, Mulcahy. Both ventures prove to be perilous.  But with the help of Theo, her newly-found Irish grandfather, Grace manages to topple the mining company's monopoly, and, eventually, thaw Mulcahy’s frozen heart.  By the end of the story she has arrived at a place she can truly call home. ‘Emerald’ is about the search for home.

  • Grace O’Shea - a spirited New Yorker in her thirties, who longs to find a real home in Killala Bay (mezzo soprano)
  • Mulcahy - a truculent Irish artist in his forties whose life is gradually changed by the appearance of Grace in his life (baritone)
  • Oliver - in his thirties, hopeless at love and at most other things; he is Mulcahy’s assistant and co-worker, and an all-round odd job man (tenor)
  • Sally - becomes Grace’s friend, in her thirties, barmaid at Tuttle’s bar; also the long-suffering girlfriend of Oliver (soprano)
  • Tuttle - a highly strung bluebottle of a man; the corrupt Town Mayor, with dangerous ties to the mining company (baritone with falsetto)
  • Theo - a very elderly craftsman and beloved mentor of Mulcahy; terminally ill and virtually blind (baritone)
  • Dina Harcourt - English, high status, superficial charm but hard as nails , Head of Harcourt Enterprises, (mezzo)
  • Molly - loud, older woman, Oliver’s formidable mother, plain speaking, a force to be reckoned with (alto)

Support(3m, 5f  plus ensemble supplying 1m, 1f cameo parts)

  • Tom - local activist against the mining company (tenor) 
  • Tara - a rather tarty middle-aged woman (mezzo)
  • Rita - kind hearted and sweet (soprano)
  • Muldoon - a grouchy fellow (baritone)
  • Maeve - runs the local fuel store, a bit on the slow side(voice range tba)
  • Davey - the local grocer (and undertaker); has a glad eye for Sally (tenor)
  • Lucy & Linda - two ‘ne’er-do-well’ townsfolk, dressed like bag-ladies(voice ranges tba)

Winner : S&S Award 2012 & Sidney Brown Award for New Musicals 2013

'Emerald' was originally entitled 'Death And Plenty', after the novel by Brian Leyden. Nurtured through the first draft by Artistic Director, John Sparks at Theatre Building Chicago, the show had its first reading in 2007 as part of the theatre's 30th anniversary season. A dramaturg of new musicals, John Sparks' original feedback was integral to the rewrite that followed.  In 2008, the show (now entitled 'Killala Bay') was selected by The Village Theatre, Seattle, as part of their new musicals programme. 

Following further rewrites with Martin Charnin, the show (now entitled 'Emerald') won a major prize in the ANMT 2009 Search for New Musicals. 'Emerald' received further development in LA in the spring of 2010, leading to winning the 2011 Search for New Musicals Prize. It then received a concert reading at The Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood in Feb 2012.

It won the S&S Award in 2012, had some further London-based development in September 2012 with director Nikolai Foster and Tony award-winning Musical Director, Sarah Travis, and was showcased in the 2013 season of Katy Lipson's 'From Page To Stage' with Claire Sweeney, Helena Blackman and Glenn Carter, again directed by Nikolai Foster.

More information on types below
Type
Free

Applying and paying for royalties

To apply for royalties, please complete the form on our apply for royalties page.

To pay for fixed fee royalties having received your Quotation from us, please go to this payment form.

 [{"variant_id":"55550705729922" , "metafield_value":""},{"variant_id":"55550705762690" , "metafield_value":""},{"variant_id":"55550705795458" , "metafield_value":""},{"variant_id":"55550705828226" , "metafield_value":""}]

Emerald

Free
More information

If you require any additional information regarding this script, please don’t hesitate to contact us here.

Songs

1) Gold! / This Place - Harcourt & Chorus / Theo  

2) My Welcome - Grace & Mulcahy 

3) Beautiful - Grace, Oliver, Mulcahy & Theo 

4) Hopeless - Sally & Oliver  

5) What A Fool - Grace  

6) Barn Dance - Instrumental 

7) Legend Of The Black Pig - Mulcahy, Theo & Company  

8) Barn Dance (Underscore Reprise) - Instrumental  

9) You Walk In Here - Mulcahy, Grace & Theo

10) Sixty Years Ago - Theo & Grace

11) Home - Theo, Grace, Harcourt, Tuttle, Sally, Oliver, Mulcahy & Company

~~ Interval ~~

12) It's A Pig - Tuttle, Harcourt, Molly, Lucy, Linda, Davey, Mikey, Theo & Muldoon

13) This Town From Yesterday - Grace, Theo & Company

14) Losing Myself - Mulcahy

15) Damn Her! - Tuttle & Harcourt

16) Dead Of Night - Theo & Grace

17) Wake! - Company

18) A Patch Of Land - Sally & Oliver

19) There's A Byelaw - Tuttle, Lucy & Linda

20) I Never Wanted To Want You - Mulcahy & Grace

21) Here We Come - Ensemble

22) Finale - Company

Information for Production Administrators

Here's a list of all the supporting material available and some other information you might need. Pricing for the production materials is supplied automatically with a Perusal Set. Royalty pricing can only be provided as a formal quotation.

Available now (see below)

  • Perusal Set

These are availablefor customers in European Union countries onlyto borrow free of charge (but you have to pay the postage to return the set to us). The set contains ...

  • Printed Libretto
  • Printed Piano/Vocal Score
  • Studio Recording Double CD Sampler

Available after Perusal

  • Libretti/Vocal Scores

Available to purchase as a Rehearsal Master Set on a Data CD (Cast). This contains the script and piano vocal score for your cast and crew provided as A4 pdf files. No problem about possible loss of deposit, as they are yours to print out and mark up as required. The price includes a multiple copying licence allowing you to copy the Data CD itself (enabling you to give or sell copies to your cast for them to make up their own rehearsal books) or to make multiple prints of the pdf's on the Data CD for your production company to organise and provide to your cast or crew.

Please note that we do not sell printed copies of the libretti, nor do we hire sets of printed rehearsal libretti or scores.

Available after Rights Obtained

  • Backing Tracks

For use in support of your rehearsal pianist, or for use during performances.

  • Orchestrations

These are available for a 7 piece band as below, for hire to production companies only, who hold a valid, unexpired, licence to perform.

  • Acoustic Rhythm Guitar
  • Bass Guitar
  • Drum Kit
  • Keyboard
  • Lead Electric Guitar
  • Percussion
  • Piano (band, not piano/vocal)
  • MD's Full Score

We have secured the rights to video productions of this title from the Author, and we manage them on his behalf. Once a 'Licence To Perform' has been granted, and then on payment of a fee, we will be able to issue a 'Licence To Record'. There are some strings attached to this, but these are far outweighed by the benefits.

  • Record one or more live performances and mix down to a single video
  • Give or sell copies to your cast and crew
  • Sell copies to your audiences (take advance bookings on the night)
Frequently asked questions

Can we try before we buy?

Of course! All our plays and pantomimes have a free Preview Script available for download as an A4 pdf file that contains 60-75% of the full script. If you like what you read in that then you can buy an inexpensive e-script of the entire play (generally costing under half the price of a traditional printed script) which is licensed to you for your personal use. Purchasing a script copying licence allows you to make a just sufficient quantity of copies to support rehearsals and performances.

All our musicals are included in our perusal service. Under this, representatives of producing organisations can request a USB Stick of Perusal Material  which comprise the script/libretto and piano/vocal score as pdf files; a Cast (or Studio) Recording as mp3 files and (where available) an mp4 file video of either the premiere production or of a subsequent production.

Some titles have the facility to read the entire script online on our website.

Do we need a Licence To Perform?

The simple answer is, yes.

Under the international laws of copyright, you must be in possession of a valid, unexpired, licence before performing any piece of theatre unless the owner or managers of the copyright has waived their rights. (See 'Copyright Questions' below).

Why do you insist on providing a formal royalties quotation?

When you request a quotation, it is logged in our system, it forms part of an orderly queue and protects your place in that queue should multiple licensing requests occur for the same show.

Need help?

Contact us

If you need help with our scripts, please contact our customer service team, we would be more than happy to help.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
  • Similar titles

Established for over 25 years

Unearthing future talent

Stagescripts is a trusted licensing company run by theatre professionals with decades of experience on and off stage. Our curated catalogue includes over 1,000 carefully selected plays, musicals, and pantomimes — from fresh, undiscovered writing to well-loved classics.

We’re passionate about helping theatre-makers at every level discover scripts that inspire, challenge, and connect with audiences. Whether you're staging a village hall production or leading a professional company, our team offers expert advice, flexible support, and a responsive, personal service to help your next performance shine.

About us