| Author: | Jennie S. Redling | EMail: | jenired@optonline.net | ICWP Member?: | Yes | Nearest Large City: | New York | Country: | U.S. | Play Title: | A Rape in Glorious | Runtime: | 91-120 minutes | Synopsis: | In A RAPE IN GLORIOUS, Joan Berk, a young Jewish art student is driven to remain in school when the Depression brings a cut in funding to her college, eliminating her scholarship. The school is named after Sir Thomas Malory and the only remaining grant in his name carries with it full tuition. To win, she abandons her dream of becoming a sculptor and develops a proposal based on the subject of her art project - Joan of Arc. She then flatters the English professor who awards the prize, Niven Landau, a Malory authority venerated in the community as well as the only Jew on the faculty. When he sexually assaults her she is confronted with the choice of reporting him to the authorities or enduring a private inquiry on campus conducted by the Board of Directors. The head of the Board sees Niven as likely to draw donations from the Jewish community and therefore valuable to the financial survival of the school and is eager to discredit the charge. As the inquiry ensues, Joan herself seems on trial. Soon her very sanity appears at stake as she finds herself mistaking Joan of Arc’s trial with the ordeal in which she is embroiled. As she receives support from the community, the similarities cannot escape her - Joan was demonized by the English and idealized by the French. Joan is equally confused about her own morality and motives as she faces the choice of betraying a fellow Jew or her own personal honor.
| Male: | 6 | Female: | 5 | Max. Cast: | 11 | Min. Cast: | 9 | Media: | Stage | Genre: | Drama | Theme: | Abuse of Power | Web Page: | http://www.jennieredling.com | First Name: | Jennie | Last Name: | Redling | Notes: | Time: Winter and Spring of 1932 Place: The campus of Thomas Malory College in the fictitious town of Glorious, Pennsylvania.
Two acts. Representative set. Lighting crucial in changing locales, periods of the day, seasons and atmosphere.
CAST
JOAN BERK 19, one of first Jewish students at a formerly restricted college. On the defensive, impulsive, socially green, but determined.
FAYE OWEN 20s, artist's model, undernourished, a survivor.
SUSAN SHAW 19, stylish, affected, well-to-do young coed.
MILDRED HINES 19, Joan's Jewish roommate. Overweight and overprotected, shy, romantic.
MORGAN DALTRY 19, law student with strong feelings for Joan. Wealthy with an easy manner, but not complacent.
CHICK MASON 19, student. Athletic, open and matter-of-fact.
MARGARET FURY 40's to 60s, art professor, earthy, penetrating, droll.
NIVEN LANDAU 60s, glamorous, charismatic, yet often fussy teacher of Poetry and English Literature. At a loss to feel authentic emotions, including humiliation at being relegated to the lower rungs of society because he is a Jew, and at his own physical decline.
JOHN FLANDERS 30s, the Dean of English studies. Wholesome and articulate. New on the faculty and feeling his way. Hired before the Depression sunk it's teeth into the country to a post that, were Niven not Jewish, would have gone to Niven.
ALAN CATHCART 40s, chairman of Board of Trustees of Malory college called in to save the school from financial ruin - grew up in poverty and struggled to achieve his position. He disguises his feelings of inferiority with an exaggerated gregariousness, fueled by an unexpressed sense of injustice.
TED VALLEY 40s, Trustee Board member, accustomed to comfort, scrupulously honest.
JAMES MORROW 30s, Trustee Board member. Fastidious and self-important, maintains a taut rein on his feelings, becoming befuddled and irritated if they are unexpectedly aroused.
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