Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
eBook - ePub

Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)

  1. 192 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)

About this book

"By turns philosophical and playful, lyrical and earthy, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), swoops, leaps, dives and soars, reimagining a turbulent point in American history through a cockeyed contemporary lens . . . The finest work yet from this gifted writer."—The New York Times

"Thrilling. . . . A masterpiece . . . A story that engages the deepest possible issues in the most gripping possible ways."—New York

Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy, Hero, a slave, must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be another empty promise. As his decision brings him face to face with a nation at war with itself, the ones Hero left behind debate whether to escape or wait for his return, only to discover that for Hero, freedom may have come at a great spiritual cost. A devastatingly beautiful dramatic work, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) is the opening trilogy of a projected nine-play cycle that will ultimately take us into the present.

Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog in 2002. Her other plays include The Book of Grace, In the Blood, Venus, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Fucking A, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom and The America Play. In 2007 her 365 Days/365 Plays was produced at more than seven hundred theaters worldwide. Parks is a MacArthur Fellow and the Master Writer Chair at the Public Theater.

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Yes, you can access Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & American Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Part 1
A Measure of a Man
Characters
The Musician
The Chorus of Less Than Desirable Slaves:
Leader
Second
Third
Fourth
The Oldest Old Man
Hero
Penny
Homer
The musician sings:
Dark Is the Night
Dark is the night
Long is the day
Dark is the night
Long is the day
Got time for work
No time to pray.
He’s heading out
Or will he stay.
The sun he hides
Don’t see his face
The night he crowds
And death don’t leave a trace.
Dark is the night
But there’s no resting place.
Early Spring, 1862. A slave cabin in the middle of nowhere.
Far West Texas. One hour before dawn.
The Chorus Leader measures the night by holding a hand up to the sky.
After a moment, the Leader is joined by the Second.
Leader
Leader
Leader
Second
How much time we got?
Leader
How much you want?
Second
Don’t be smart.
Hero’s gonna be leaving when the sun comes up.
And we gotta know how long we got till he goes.
Leader
Listen to him. Talking like he know.
But we don’t know if Hero is going or not.
All we know is the sun’s gonna rise, God willing,
But when it comes to Hero,
We gotta wait for his word to know what he’s doing.
Second
Me, I’m betting that he’s going.
Leader
Are you now?
Second
That’s right.
Leader
You’re betting that Hero’s gonna go to the War?
Second
That’s how I’m betting,
Mark it.
Leader
You betting that Hero’s going to the War with the Boss-Master?
Working as the Boss-Master’s servant-slave?
Second
That’s what Hero does here, so that’s what he’ll do when he goes to the War.
His job ain’t gonna change just cause he gets to wear a fancy uniform.
Leader
You’re betting Hero is gonna wait on Boss-Master hand and foot?
Second
He waits hand and foot on him now.
Leader
And hold his horse steady for him to climb on top?
And hold his horse again for him to climb on down?
And run behind, carrying all Boss-Master’s whatnots on his back?
Running behind the Boss-Mas...

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Production History
  6. From the Author’s Elements of Style
  7. Production Notes
  8. Part 1: A Measure of a Man
  9. Part 2: A Battle in the Wilderness
  10. Part 3: The Union of My Confederate Parts
  11. Music