Purification, The
- Short Play, Drama
- 5M, 3F
- ISBN: 9780811202251
A part of the collection 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Plays.
More information
Description
- Short Play
- Drama
- 40 minutes
- Target Audience: Adult
- Set Requirements: Interior Set, Bare Stage / Simple Set
- Performance Group:
- College Theatre / Student, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre
In the 19th century American west, a community gathers for a murder trial. As the judge attempts to hear all sides, the murdered woman appears as she might have been seen. Written in verse.
A part of the collection 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Plays.
A part of the collection 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Plays.
Premiere Production:
The Purification premiered at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (formerly known as the Theatre De Lys) in New York City in December 1959 under the direction of Tom Brennan.
Characters
- Casting: 5M, 3F
THE SON - A youth of twenty, handsome, irrationally tense of feeling.
THE MOTHER - Pure blooded Castillian with iron-gray hair. She is dressed in mourning.
THE FATHER - Tall and gaunt, a steady wine drinker. Brooding and slow of movement.
THE RANCHER FROM CASA ROJO - The burnt-out shell of a longing that drove to violence. His blood is coarser than the people of Casa Blanca. But he is a man of dignity and force.
LUISA - An American Indian servant woman. Some Spanish blood. She wears a good deal of jewelry and a brilliant shawl.
AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH
A CHORUS OF THREE MEN AND THREE WOMEN - Ranchers.
THE GUITAR PLAYER - He wears a domino and scarlet-lined cape. He sits on a stool beside the wide arched doorway.
ELENA OF THE SPRINGS / THE DESERT ELENA - Two visions of the same character, the lost girl.
