The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

by Frederick Gaines
Based on the novel by Washington Irvine

Ichabod Crane, a bumbling eccentric schoolmaster, moves to a superstitious town haunted by a headless horseman. A Puritan who constantly quotes Cotton Mather, Ichabod insists he is not superstitious. When a dark figure on horseback follows him home one night, Ichabod screams in terror and shows that he is as superstitious everyone else. The next morning, all that remains of Ichabod Crane is his small, tricorner hat and the sound of his voice.

Regular price $12.00
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Quick Details

  • Type: Play
  • Length: 45-60 minutes | Can be cut for competition
  • Availability: Available for productions worldwide
  • Cast Size: 9 roles + ensemble

Full Details

Roles:

  • Ichabod Crane
  • Widow Winetraub
  • Hilda Winetraub
  • Cornwall
  • Brom Bones (Brom Van Brunt)
  • Katrina Van Tassel
  • Pastor
  • Van Ripper
  • Mirror-Image of Ichabod

Ensemble includes Townspeople, Students, and Brom's Gang

The following resources are included in each performance license:
  • Permission to photocopy the PDF script for your production so there is no additional cost for these assets.

The following resources may be added to you license for an additional fee:
  • Logo/Media package
  • While Sleepy Hollow is not a musical, we do have optional performance-quality music tracks created by Roberta Carlson which include 41 audio files that can be used for underscoring, transitional music, and sound effects.

Frederick Gaines

The plays of Frederick Gaines have been performed in regional theatres across the country, including Theatre of the First Amendment (CELLOPHANE XEROX), Baltimore's Center Stage (A TEMPORARY PLACE), the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock (SAINT JOAN, A WRINKLE IN TIME), the Children?s Theatre Company of Minneapolis (many plays and adaptations including KING ARTHUR, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, A CIRCLE IS THE SUN, JERUSALEM and OLIVER TWIST), Florida's Asolo Repertory Theater (DRACULA, THE ALCHEMIST), the Guthrie Theater (THE STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER, performed in a regional touring production and THE GHOST DANCER, performed at the Guthrie Other Place) and New York's Ellen Stewart Theater (THE HOUSE OF LEATHER) and Theatre de Lys (WILDE!). He has been awarded the Fulbright, McKnight, OADR, Eugene O'Neill, National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Fellowships. He has had written several opera librettos (MICHELANGELO, UNBEKANNT, AN IMAGINARY LINE) for the American composer Brooke Joyce. His most recent play, HANDS ACROSS THE SEA, was written for production in French by the Theatre Club of the Notre Dame Lycee in Cahors, France. He is recently retired from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin but continues to teach as a volunteer in the Outagamie County Jail, the Oneida Reservation, Renaissance School for the Arts and Central High School, all in Northeast Wisconsin. Frederick Gaines passed away in April 2010.

Originally commissioned and produced by Children's Theatre Company in 1969