ISBN: 978-1-56663-798-5

James Purdy (1989)

4m, 2f

A modern day Greek tragedy enacts itself in this play, in which a man is prepared to die for a lost love, an adolescent boy plays a destructive cupid, and the eponymous heroine becomes helplessly entangled in the fate of both. Purdy deftly weaves a tone of classical homoeroticism into the ideal of love expressed between the protagonists. Each of the three protagonists is bound helplessly to the other two, but the bonds between them also hint at an ideal above and beyond the gritty plotline. This remove is reinforced by the play's flashback structure and the commentary of characters who stand largely as witnesses. More than the tragedy at its core, this play is a thoughtful portrayal of the catharsis that such tragedy brings about in its audience, turning the drama subtly in on itself.

In Selected Plays by James Purdy

FEE: $75.00 per performance