Superb acting roles present the cast of this play an opportunity to create a sense of Gothic horror in its short time-span that would be difficult or impossible to match in a much longer production. The author dramatized a short story by an eccentric nineteenth-century clergyman who centered the haunting, eerie mood of the plot around Julia, attractive but ruthless in discarding potential lovers. One, who committed suicide, apparently returns to get revenge through a leaden ring. Unmatched for development of character and mood. Perfect for contests.

The Leaden Ring is a short story by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, a 19th-century English clergyman who is best remembered as the writer of the hymns Onward Christian Soldiers and Now the Day Is Over. In his day this remarkable man who had fifteen children and spent the later years of his life as a school master living in an attic room with a pet owl, was a very popular author. He died in 1924.

This haunting play centers around Julia, an attractive young woman who seems to discard potential lovers like a black-jack dealer tossing cards around. But apparently one of the discarded lovers, who committed suicide when she rejected him, is not satisfied to rest in peace. What he does to get revenge makes an intriguing play.

Ken Pickering, who lives in Canterbury, England, in the shadow of Chaucer's favorite cathedral, has written three other plays published by I. E. Clark: Beowulf , an exciting musical adaptation of the famous Anglo-Saxon epic; The Inside Story, a zoological musical lamenting mankind's abuse of our environment; and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a musical adaptation of the beloved children's tale. Ring of Lead is the first Pickering non-musical that we have published.

One act; Set, Victorian parlour; Time, late 19th century or today.

See also: Mystery, Murder, and Mayhem