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The Life of Galileo (Manheim/Sauerlander, trans.)

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  11w, 35m

Bertolt Brecht, Ralph Manheim, Wolfgang Sauerlander

The Life Of Galileo
by Bertolt Brecht
Translated by Ralph Manheim and Wolfgang Sauerlander

NOTICE: Please be advised, this title is from the Samuel French Vault and is made from a scan of an archived manuscript. We hope you’ll treasure this glimpse into theatre history.

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The Life of Galileo (Manheim/Sauerlander, trans.)

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    11w, 35m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Biography
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
The time is of the emergence of the age of reason when Galileo was teaching young students the incredible account of how the earth moves around the sun, rather than the other way around. His heretical announcement, that both the moon and Jupiter only reflect the sun's light, is brought to the attention of the church and Galileo is summoned to the Vatican. His friends abandon him and his appeal to the Pope is intercepted by the inquisitor. Galileo recants, but even while imprisoned continues his writings surreptiously.
Cast Attributes
Performing Groups

46 characters male and female, with doubling possible. 
Extras, children.

Galileo Galilei
Andrea Sarti
Signora Sarti, Galileo's housekeeper and Andrea's mother
Ludovico Marsili, a rich young man
Signor Priuili, the Bursar of the University of Padua
Virginia, Galileo's daughter
Sagredo, Galileo's friend
Federzoni, a lens grinder, Galileo's collaborator
The Doge
Senators
Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Florence
Court Chamberlain
Older Lady in Waiting
Younger Lady in Waiting
Grand Duke's Lackey
Two Nuns
Two Soldiers
Woman
Old Woman
Fat Prelate
Two Scholars
Two Monks
Two Astronomers
Very Thin Monk
Very Old Cardinal
Father Christopher Clavius, an astronomer
Little Monk
Cardinal Inquisitor
Cardinal Brberini, later Pope Urban VIII
Cardinal Bellarmin
Two Ecclesiastical Secretaries
Two Young Ladies
Filippo Mucius, a scholar
Signor Gaffone, Rector of the University of Pisa
Ballad Singer
Ballad Singer's Wife
Vanni, an iron-founder
Official
High Official
Individual
Monk, peasant, frontier guard, clerk, men, women, children

  • Time Period 17th Century
  • Setting Interior and exterior settings. 
    Period 1609 - 1637.
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Authors

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), playwright, poet and director, was born in Augsburg, Germany in February 1898. He established himself as a playwright during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as Baal, Man is Man, The Threepenny Opera and The Mother. In 1933, as Hitler came ...
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