Gold Fever

Old West history and legend are humorously and imaginatively blended to make a powerful statement about the conflict between personal greed and compassion for others. Set in the historic California Gold Rush, this character-driven comedy brings together Ben Halladay, "King of the Stage Lines," and a notorious highwayman known as Black Bart the PO8 ("the poet"). Bart was a "forty-niner" who failed to find riches in the gold fields and turned to robbing Halladay's stagecoaches. Their ensuing misadventures reveal to both that "Gold fever can make a man mad!" Gold Fever was originally developed for audiences in fourth through eighth grade, but its characters, story, and plotting—even its elements of participation—will appeal to all ages.