In Shakespeare and the Bible

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

In Shakespeare and the Bible

Short Play, Drama  /  3w, 1m

In Wilder's short play representing the Deadly Sin of Wrath, a wealthy woman named Mrs. Mowbrey hosts her estranged niece, Katy, and Katy's fiancé, Mr. Lubbock. Katy soon discovers that Mrs. Mowbrey and Mr. Lubbock have a history. Did Mrs. Mowbrey intend to use her wealth to buy respectability and family relations? Or to exact revenge?

In Shakespeare and the Bible

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 1m
  • Duration
    Duration
    40 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene work
    • Competition or audition material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
In Shakespeare and the Bible

Details

Summary

The year is 1898 and the place is an overly sumptuous parlor in New York. Mrs. Mowbrey, a mature, wealthy woman with a history to bury, makes a plan: She'll befriend her estranged niece and fiancé, and their subsequent marriage will provide her own entrée into respectable society. Or at least, that's what she tells the young couple. In Shakespeare and the Bible uncovers a mystery inside a melodrama inside a meeting. Mrs. Mowbrey invites her niece, Katy and her niece's fiancé Mr. Lubbock to her home separately and unbeknownst to each other. Mr. Lubbock arrives first, and is asked to become Mr. Mowbrey's attorney. Katy comes later, to meet this aunt who has fallen from her family's good graces for unknown reasons. With all three in the room, it becomes apparent that Mr. Lubbock and Mrs. Mowbrey share something that's not deemed proper for Katy to know. Yet Katy insists they tell her. When Mrs. Mowbrey leaves the room, insisting that they work things out among themselves, the mystery looms large. Katy discovers their secret and the true intent of Mrs. Mowbrey's agenda hangs in the balance: Did she intend to use her wealth to buy respectability and family relations? Or to exact revenge?

Published in Thornton Wilder One-Act Series: The Seven Deadly Sins, representing “Wrath.”

Cast Attributes
MARGET – A maid
JOHN LUBBOCK – A young attorney, 27, Katy Buckingham’s fiancé
MRS. MOWBREY – Katy Buckingham’s aunt, late 50s
KATY BUCKINGHAM – 21
  • Time Period 19th Century
  • Setting An oversumptuous parlor, New York, 1898.
  • Duration 40 minutes

Media

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  • Thornton Wilder: It's Time youtube thumbnail

    Thornton Wilder: It's Time

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Authors

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one ...

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