A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Owl Answers

Short Play, Drama  /  3w, 7m

Adrienne Kennedy

An African-American girl dreams of establishing a heritage and imagines she is applying to bury her father in Westminster Cathedral.

The Owl Answers

Request license
Get the Script
  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    40 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Experimental
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary
An African-american girl dreams of establishing a heritage and imagines she is applying to bury her father in Westminster Cathedral. The chorus enters. Ann Boleyn, Shakespeare, and William the Conqueror scorn her: whoever heard of a black with such a heritage? Her father was white, she protests, and her mother was his family's cook. As a child she had to enter through the back door when she wanted to visit him. A companion piece to Kennedy's revolutionary Funnyhouse of a Negro.
History
The Owl Answers was first presented by Lucille Lortel at The White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, in 1965. It was directed by Michael Kahn.
Keywords
Performing Groups
SHE - who is Clara Passmore, who is the Virgin Mary, who is the Bastard, who is the Owl
BASTARD'S BLACK MOTHER - who is the Reverend's Wife, who is Anne Boleyn
GODDAM FATHER - who is the Richest White Man In The Town, who is the Dead White Father, who is Reverend Passmore
THE WHITE BIRD - who is Reverend Passmore's Canary, who is God's Dove
THE NEGRO MAN
SHAKESPEARE
CHAUCER
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

The characters change slowly back and forth into and out of themselves, leaving some garment from their previous selves upon them always to remind us of the nature of She who is Clara Passmore who is the Virgin Mary who is the Bastard who is the Owl's world.

  • Time Period Not Applicable
  • Setting A New York subway is the Tower of London is a Harlem hotel room is St. Peter's
  • Features Elaborate / High Volume Costumes
  • Additional Features No intermission
  • Duration 40 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Intense Adult Themes

Media

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

Scene Study and Classroom Reading: Plays for Colleges and Universities
by Becca Schlossberg
August 23, 2019

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $75 per performance

Scripts

Available Formats:
Get the Script

Add-Ons

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

Authors

Adrienne Kennedy

Adrienne Kennedy

Award-winning playwright, lecturer and author Adrienne Kennedy was born in Pittsburgh in 1931 and attended Ohio State University. Her plays include Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award, Petit Odeon directed by Jean Marie Serreau), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), Sun (Comm ...

View full profile

Community

Now Playing

Community Experiences