A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Lorelei

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  6w, 7m

A bizarre, funny, unusual and unpredictable journey with Lou and her famous, lecherous and sometimes demented genius friends.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    6w, 7m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
Lou Andreas Salomé, brilliant, beautiful and brave, cuts her way through a wonderland of late nineteenth and early twentieth century geniuses that includes Nietzsche, Wagner, Wedekind, Rilke, Tolstoy and Freud, breaking hearts and bruising egos as she goes, in an attempt to understand herself, love, sex, human nature, and the possibly imaginary or deceased deity in this wild ride of a play. It starts when she's older, studying with Freud, who is convinced that if she is to be a good psychoanalyst, she needs to come to terms with her troubled relationships with a series of brilliant men over the years, then flashes back to her famous encounter with Nietzsche, whose love for her was arguably a contributing factor to his subsequent madness. Lou turns down Nietzsche's proposal, manages to escape the clutches of Wagner and Wedekind, perplexes Tolstoy, marries a man she won't sleep with, has a torrid affair with the poet Rilke but then breaks his heart, perplexes Tolstoy, is despised by Nietzsche's jealous proto-Nazi sister, seduced in a madhouse, writes many books, and somehow manages to maintain possession of her own soul. But, Freud asks, at what cost? A chorus of Rhine Maiden/Nymphs accompany us on a bizarre, funny, unusual and unpredictable journey with Lou and her famous, lecherous and sometimes demented genius friends.  
LOU SALOME
ELISABETH NIETZCHE/ NUN/ MAID
COSIMA WAGNER/ SIBYL/ COUNTESS TOLSTOY/ MARIA
1ST RHINE MAIDEN (SCHOOLGIRL/ GUEST/ NYMPH/ MADWOMAN)
2ND RHINE MAIDEN (SCHOOLGIRL/ GUEST/ NYMPH/ MADWOMAN)
3RD RHINE MAIDEN (SCHOOLGIRL/ GUEST/ NYMPH/ MADWOMAN)
FRIEDRICH NIETZCHE
SIGMUND FREUD
RAINIER MARIA RILKE/ TAILOR/ MADMAN
PAUL REE/ FRANK WEDEKIND/ MADMAN
RICHARD WAGNER/ LEO TOLSTOY/ PAPA/ FLYING DUTCHMAN/ GOD
FRIEDRICH CARL ANDREAS/ LISZT/ MADMAN
HENDRIK GILLOT/ VON BULOW/ ZEMEK
  • Time Period 19th Century
  • Setting A unit set which represents various rooms, a forest, St Peter's Basilica, all very simply. 
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

Available Formats:

Add-Ons

Take a look below at how you can enhance your show!

Authors

Don Nigro

Don Nigro is among the most frequently published and widely produced playwrights in the world and has continued to build a deeply interrelated and diverse body of dramatic literature, employing a wide variety of dramatic conventions and styles of presentation. He has written ...

View full profile

Community

Now Playing

Community Experiences