Playwright Turned Author

BOOK LAUNCH

There is murder in the air in a sleepy, unsuspecting village on the banks of a tidal river in Nova Scotia. “Murder on the Pony Express Way” by Paul Rapsey, a resident of Granville Ferry, will be released in paperback format at a book launch at Bainton’s Mad Hatter Bookstore in Annapolis Royal on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Stay on for Happy Hour at the Mad Hatter Wine Bar.

The book is a whimsical murder mystery that takes place in the early 2020s. The historic village is located on the roadway travelled briefly by the mid-19^th century Pony Express riders carrying mail between Halifax and Victoria Beach in Nova Scotia. The characters may be flawed, but they are loveable.

Although Paul has published other works, this is his first fictional novel. Josh Anderson at Amazon Books, which will be releasing the book for online purchases and e-readers in the late spring or early summer, wrote that the book is “…a delightful read… We loved how you weaved the everyday lives of [the main characters into]… an exciting murder plot … [This is a] charming debut fictional novel [with] … exciting characters … The book has a truly distinctive voice to engage the readers who pick it up.”

Paul will do a reading from the book at 3:00 p.m. at the Bookstore, 213 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal. For more information call the store at 902.532-2070.

Comments

One's Company Now a Film

I am not a filmmaker. But Covid has forced me to become one, to a degree. I decided to turn this stage play into a one-hour film in the "talking head" genre. I have not decided what if anything I will do with this film other than make it available to my few fans on YouTube. I am not sure exactly how to categorize this film. At 61 minutes, it seems too long to classify as a "short", and too short to classify as a "feature". As was Fiddelity , the film is made with no budget and very basic equipment. I am, essentially a story teller in the old sense. It is the words and the way I use and express them that are intended to ignite the imagination of the audience, rather than reliance on pyro-technics and the like. I was particularly touched by this comment by one viewer: " I watched One’s Company last night and loved it. A graceful insight into alone-ness. Am I not being understood….or is it I who misunderstands? Small worries looming large. The growth...

The Play is the Thing

I was cast as King Berenger in Ionesco's "Exit the King". When I first read this script through, I thought immediately that it was about the end of all things. The end of the world. My character was an everyman: the good, the bad and the ugly of humanity. And in a sense, I think, that is a correct assessment. But, even more, it is about our fear of death. And our unwillingness to accept its eventuality. Because we don’t come to terms with it, we often waste our lives. I think it was Mark Twain who wrote that “Youth is wasted on the young”. Sometimes I think life is wasted because we fail to recognize how short it will be. As my character says when informed early on in the play about his impending death, “But I know that. Of course I do. We all know it. Remind me when the time comes.” Yes. We do all know it somewhere in the recesses of our mind. But it stays there as our life unfolds. However later on, Berenger exclaims: “I fear that what is to end one day, is end...

The Hand of God

Now that I am finally settled in Nova Scotia, I have managed to find the time to work on learning another script. But this time I am learning it for myself as Samuel French has refused me, without giving a reason, a licence to perform it. I did not like this script at first, but the more I read it, the more I came to like it. As with many Alan Bennett works, the play has a dark undertone. It might be described as a black comedy. Most of Mr. Bennett's monologues have been written for women and have been performed by the grand dames of British theatre. This one is also written for a woman; but unlike some of the other monologues, the character could easily be a man. I have modified it very slightly so that I do it as a male character. The play was to be performed as a benefit for a local foodbank before Christmas. However, I did perform it for a few members of my family and a few friends at our home, which actually provided a perfect venue for this work. And people we...

One Actor - Another Show

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