Third And Oak--the Pool Hall
by Marsha Norman

THE STORY: The scene is a rundown pool hall next door to the laundromat; the time, again, is shortly after 3 A.M., Shooter, a successful young black disc jockey, stops by to visit the owner, Willie, a bosom friend of his late father.

But their meeting is not easy.

Willie brings up memories of the close trio known as “The Three Blind Mice,” which was comprised of Shooter senior, himself and another pool shark named George, whose daughter, Sondra, the younger Shooter has married.

Recalling their glory days, Willie is resentful of Shooter's success, his philandering, and the gulf which time and circumstance have opened between them.

The appearance of a young white girl (Deedee from Third and Oak: The Laundromat ) who brings over Shooter's laundry and is obviously smitten by him, only serves to deepen Willie's distrust.

But gradually, as Shooter reveals both the tensions and uncertainties of his present life and his compassionate respect for the way in which Willie and the others had dealt with the problems of their own time, the bitterness and antagonism between the two men gives way to a touching and revealing reconciliation in which old quarrels are laid to rest and the gap between generations is bridged.

Note: This acting edition also contains an extra scene for Third and Oak: The Laundromat which can be inserted into the latter when the two plays are presented in tandem.

The scene incorporates the character of Shooter into the first play, and motivates the appearance of Deedee in the second.