Fountain Actress Karen Kondazian Cracks “The Whip” and Writes A Novel

Posted on July 22, 2011 at The Fountain Theatre Blog

Karen Kondazian has starred in the Fountain productions of Master Class (2004) and the Tennessee Williams classics The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (2007), The Night of the Iguana (2001) and Orpheus Descending (1996). She’s now written her first novel, The Whip.

What is your novel about?

The Whip is inspired by the true story of Charlotte “Charley” Parkhurst (1812 – 1879). Charlotte lived 30 years of her extraordinary life as a man. She became a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo during the California gold rush. One of her many exploits was the killing of the famous outlaw Sugarfoot, when he tried to rob her stagecoach one too many times.

As a young woman, she fell in love and eventually lived with a black man and had his child. He was hung, her baby killed and she was raped by one of the killers. The destruction of her family drove her out west to California during the gold rush, dressed as a man, to track the murderer. She had many adventures and a secret love affair. She also lived with a housekeeper, who fell in love with her, not realizing she was a woman. Charlotte Parkhurst was the first woman to vote in America (as a man!). Her grave lies in Watsonville, California.