Beets (full length)

By Rick Padden

970-593-0130

rpadden1@yahoo.com

“Beets” is set in Berthoud, Colo. in 1944-45, when German POWs from Camp 202 near Greeley were used as stoop laborers on area beet farms. Faced with a critical shortage of labor and a frantic, wartime need to produce, farmers were compelled to accept the enemy into their fields – while their sons fought men just like them in trenches and tanks in Europe. The presence of German soldiers in rural America at the height of the war led to conflict for some, acceptance by others and adjustments for all. There were over 400,000 German POWs brought to the States during the war – held in 511 camps in all but four of the continental states. The play inevitably explores treatment of POWs, an issue of current interest in the news, as well as forbidden love.

NOTE: Colorado camps were at Denver (Rose Hill/Rocky Mountain Arsenal), Greeley, Trinidad, Leadville and Fort Carson (Camp Carson.)

Character summary

7 males and 2 females

Fred Hunt, about 45, a sugar beet farmer in Berthoud, Colorado, of English ancestry,

Isabelle Hunt, 39, Fred’s wife, determined to make the Germans feel welcomed.

Anna Hunt, 17, Daughter of Fred and Is,

Jim, 45-55, Fred’s friend and neighbor of German ancestry,

Johnny, 18, A U.S. Army guard, serving at Camp 202.

Bobby, 15-17, a neighbor boy who drives the POWs to and from Camp 202.

Dieter Muehler, 23, a handsome POW who is drawn immediately to Anna.

Karl, 18, a German POW, and friend of Dieter.

Franz, 18, a German POW with a sense of humor. He is also friends with Dieter.

Set & Costuming

“Beets” was originally written for small-budget community theatre production, and has minimal set and costuming requirements. Action takes place primarily at the rear of the family’s farmhouse, with one scene change to a POW tent.

The music to one song used in the play requires minimal royalty payment, although an alternate original song and lyrics are available.

Approximate run time: 2 hours

Production history

First Staged Reading: October 24, 2008, Wildfire Community Arts Center

Second Staged Reading: January 22, 2009, Loveland Museum and Gallery

World Premiere: May 22, 23, 24, 29, 39 & 31 of 2009, Rialto Theater, Loveland, CO

Third Staged Reading: December, 2014, Aurora Fox Theater, Aurora, CO

Full Production, Jan. to Feb 8, 2015, month-long run, Aurora Fox Theater, Denver, CO

Full Production: July, 2015, Delaney Farm, Denver

Full Production: July, 2015, Broomfield Auditorium, Broomfield, CO

Full Production: July, 2015, Highpoint Church, Aurora, CO

Full Production: July, 2015, Dairy Center, Boulder, CO

Full Production: November, 2015, Adams City High School, Adams City, CO

Full Production (Return engagement), March, 2017, Rialto Theater, Loveland, CO

Fourth Staged Reading, June 24, 2022, Fickel Museum, Berthoud, CO

Fifth Staged Reading scheduled for Aug. 3, 2023, Double Tree Hotel, Greeley.

“Beets” was the most profitable show in Loveland Community Theatre Company’s 30-year history, and placed in the top 7% our of 1,400 plays entered in the 2009 NYC Summer Play Festival.