3/21/2003

David Selby takes on mountaintop removal in new play

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Actor-turned-writer David Selby is preparing to stage his second play, a coal country drama focusing on mountaintop removal strip mining to be performed in his native state.

Charleston Stage Company will offer the world premiere of "Final Assault'' during six performances beginning April 10 at Capitol Center Theater in Charleston.

Selby, known for his acting in the TV vampire drama "Dark Shadows'' and the drama "Falcon Crest,'' at 62 has grown professionally restless. Looking for additional challenges, he has been writing screenplays and dramas.

The play is Selby's second to be produced. The first was "Lincoln and James.''

"It is a tough subject,'' Selby says. "It's a political piece, and I think theater shouldn't shy away from them. The trick is to put them in some sort of personal story so they are palpable.''

His play features a woman who has persuaded a court to stop a mining company from moving forward with a mountaintop removal project. She fights against the coal company owner and becomes romantically entwined with a man who works for the owner.

Selby's mother was born in a coal town, a grandfather was crippled in the mines, and a great-grandfather died in the explosion at Monongah that killed 361 miners in 1907.

Selby's son, Jamison Selby, will direct the play.

Auditions held several weeks ago were "the tough part,'' the elder Selby said.

"You want everybody. They're all so sweet.''

Selby said the auditions exposed flaws which needed work. "I sometimes thought the actors needed a handle, a transition on a line. I felt I needed to give a little more in the way of exchange between characters.''

Selby will fly in and out of town as his schedule allows and the rewriting may get frantic, he concedes. "I'll see what I can learn. People will have questions.''