The Cards Lied

by

Synopsis: The Cards Lied is a 30–minute historical fictional murder mystery set in 1920 Bootle, England, just after The Great War. Based on intense research, the plot of this play is believable in a historical context. As men returned from the war, women were pushed out of the jobs they held to keep the country and the war running. Many of these women turned to spiritualism to help themselves and others stay connected to the loved ones they lost.

In this play, three women who once worked side-by-side at the Cunard Shell Works find themselves embroiled in a disturbing scenario. One of them is dead, and her daughter is determined to search for the truth of how her loved one passed on. One who supervised production at Cunard now bitterly finds herself without a job and social standing. The third reads cards for a living, but at times, the cards lie. A man with deep ties to nature helps to carry out a plan to catch a murderer.

The Cards Lied poses an interesting reconsideration of responsibility, pressure and guilt.

Footnote: I am currently working on a second act, The Canary Girls’ Secrets, which takes place two years later.

by Rich Helms

4 + 2 Minor Characters

Setting: Bootle, England — 1920

30-minute stage play

CHARACTERS:

  • Lottie Merton – Village spiritualist – Woman 40.
  • Rose Clegg – Woman 18 – Mother just died.
  • Martha Denby – Woman 40 – Supervised production at plant.
  • Sam – Samuel “Sam” Carter – Black Man 45 – Dock worker – Parents were US freed slaves.
  • Hartley – Village doctor – Man 45ish (final scene).
  • Constable Briggs, policeman – Man 30+ (final scene).

SETTING:

  • 1920 Bootle, England – after The Great War
  • Lottie’s house kitchen

MATERIALS: 

  • Victrola public domain audio file provided.
  • Digital files of Lenormand cards used. Can be projected or printed up to letter size
  • Poster.
Poster – Nine Card Lenormand Spread

About the Cards
Each play in the Cunard Munitionettes cycle is shaped by a nine-card Lenormand spread. The cards do not predict events or determine fate; they offer a pattern. Read together, they reflect the pressures, choices, and consequences faced by the characters, much as the work of the factory shaped their days. The meaning of any single card is incomplete on its own. Only in relation to the others does it reveal its weight. Like the lives portrayed onstage, the cards suggest that truth is rarely found in isolation, but emerges through connection, accumulation, and cost.

Meaning:

  • Top row (Stars – Child – Snake)
    → Lottie guides Rose’s innocence toward the truth, while Martha slithers nearby — temptation, danger, deception entering their world.
  • Center row (Tree – Moon – Coffin)
    → The living confronted by the mystery of death. Sam and Lottie’s insight combine to illuminate Betty’s murder.
  • Bottom row (Key – Cross – Fox)
    → Truth and guilt entwine. The Key with the Fox shows the uncovering of deception; the Cross shows that the truth will come at a heavy cost.

Production Notes

PROPS:

The Cards Lied – Script