Pat Perrin's Blog, page 6
October 1, 2018
“The time is out of joint.” —Hamlet, 1.5
These days, any American with a functioning moral compass knows exactly how Hamlet felt when he said that. It’s a bit of a cliché that Shakespeare has something to say about virtually everything. So it’s hardly any wonder that we turn to Shakespeare’s eloquence and stories for insights concerning the catastrophe we now undergo. But […]
July 16, 2018
“The Triumph of Despotism …”
When I wrote my award-winning play The Shackles of Liberty, Donald Trump had not yet risen to power. Even so, I can’t help thinking my play has some relevance to our situation today. What does it mean that America’s cherished ideals of democracy and liberty are under threat by people who profess those very ideals? […]
“… the triumph of despotism …”
When I wrote my award-winning play The Shackles of Liberty, Donald Trump had not yet risen to power. Even so, I can’t help thinking my play has some relevance to our situation today. What does it mean that America’s cherished ideals of democracy and liberty are under threat by people who loudly claim to revere […]
July 14, 2018
Send No More Angels
Giotto—The Angel Gabriel Sent by God Father god we pray to you please send us no more angels. Lend us neither son nor daughter. We turn the words of every avatar into cause for murder. For now our only holy path is to suffer life without you so we never speak your name again to […]
March 19, 2018
The Cleansing — a short play
Characters: Mary and Martha Jesus Judah Ben-Hur The scene is the Mount of Olives; Jesus sits on a stone bench staring forward; Mary enters, followed by Martha. MARY (to MARTHA). I’ve found him. MARTHA. Where? MARY. Sitting right here like nothing happened. MARTHA (to JESUS). What do you think you’re doing? JESUS. Watching. MARY. For […]
Holy Monday: The Cleansing — a short play
Characters: Mary and Martha Jesus Judah Ben-Hur The scene is the Mount of Olives; Jesus sits on a stone bench staring forward; Mary enters, followed by Martha. MARY (to MARTHA). I’ve found him. MARTHA. Where? MARY. Sitting right here like nothing happened. MARTHA (to JESUS). What do you think you’re doing? JESUS. Watching. MARY. For […]
February 24, 2018
Q&A — about Wim’s new play “The Shackles of Liberty”
Q: What is The Shackles of Liberty about? Set during the Thomas Jefferson’s last day in Paris, the play portrays the beginning of his lifelong relationship with Sally Hemings. It also deals with his involvement with the nascent French Revolution, his liaison with the brilliant portrait painter Maria Cosway, and an irony-charged confrontation with his […]
December 15, 2017
Prayer (poem)
Let the pebble learn from the wave the art of its own shaping. Let the wave be freed of its bondage to the tide. Let the tide know its own power and yoke itself to my prayer. Let my prayer take the shape of an airborne dragonfly. Let the dragonfly remember its long-ago flight into […]
November 10, 2017
Operation Ares — a short play
Characters: Adolf Hitler Wernher von Braun The scene is Adolf Hitler’s vast office in the New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, December 1944. The night sky can be seen through the windows. Hitler is seated at the desk. Wearing an SS uniform, Wernher von Braun enters and salutes. VON BRAUN. Heil Hitler. (HITLER rises from his […]
July 4, 2017
As Independence Approached …
Way back in 1997, I compiled, edited, and introduced a small collection of source materials about the Declaration of Independence. Earlier I posted the epilogue. Here’s the introduction: Washington Irving’s immortal character Rip Van Winkle slept right through the arrival of American Independence. As generations of school children have learned, Rip fell into a deep, […]
