WASHINGTON, PA — William Cameron, professor of theatre and communication at Washington & Jefferson College, has long been fascinated with the notorious 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping case and, in particular, the family's domestic servant who became a suspect early in the investigation.

So much so that Violet Sharp, the 27-year-old British woman who became a suspect in the disappearance of the Lindbergh's infant son, is the subject and title character of "Violet Sharp," his award-winning play that will open for a six-week run at the Theatre 40's Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills on February 7. Based on Cameron's extensive research, "Violet Sharp" mixes fact and speculation to credibly dramatize actual events.

"There are still some people today who feel Violet Sharp was involved," Cameron said. "She admitted she initially lied to police during questioning, but there is no evidence that suggests that she had anything to do with the case."

A little more than four years after the kidnapping, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was executed at New Jersey State Prison for the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr.

"The story I tell is about the police interrogation that forced Violet into a desperate and tragic circumstance," Cameron said. "I spent a lot of time doing research, developing contacts, and learning all I could about Violet Sharp. I have visited the house where the play takes place and the room where Violet may have lived."

Cameron said he had a first draft of the first act of the play completed in early 2004. During a sabbatical that summer, he finished the first draft of the play. It has since taken additional research, input and feedback from W&J students and staff, including Scott Frank, associate professor of theatre and communication, and some subsequent re-writing, to complete the play. "Violet Sharp" was produced by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Theatre Department; IUP was invited to present this same production of the play at the American College Theatre Festival Region II Conference in Philadelphia.

Cameron has entered the play in nearly 30 different competitions and workshops, winning the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild 2007 Julie Harris Playwriting Award. In addition to several productions of the play, there have been several readings, including one at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh last summer.

"It has to be one of the most satisfying professional experiences I have ever had," Cameron said about seeing his plays "come to life." "You are so intimately involved in the writing…you kind of put your heart and soul into it. To sit in the audience is a pretty remarkable experience."

Cameron will be traveling to California to attend the opening-night performance.

"I think it is a good play and a story of a very interesting young woman, who by all accounts, had a very rich fantasy life. It is a story that has never really been told before, at least not with Violet as a main character," Cameron said, noting that his play begins and ends with the kidnapping and her suicide, respectively.

As for his decision to return to play-writing, Cameron said, "It keeps me engaged and connected to professional theatre, which I have not done in some time. I love to work with our students, and writing this play has 'recharged by battery.' I have very high hopes for this play."

Cameron adds that he feels Sharp created her own situation by the way she responded to the police investigation. She was not honest from the beginning. He said she was a young woman "who did not want to be a servant," and became increasingly unhappy doing in the United States what she had been doing in Great Britain.

"She aspired to be more," Cameron said.

Tickets for "Violet Sharp" at the Reuben Cordova Theatre are $20 Monday through Friday. All Saturday and Sunday performances are $22. The theatre is located on the campus of Beverly Hills High School at 241 Moreno Drive — adjacent to Century City, just off Little Santa Monica Blvd. For reservations, call (310) 364-0535. For more information, visit www.theatre40.org.