|
''The Darker Face of the Earth'' is a verse play written by Rita Dove. Her first full-length play, originally conceived in 1979, it was published in 1994,〔Akasha Gloria Hull, (Review of ''The Darker Face of the Earth: A Verse Play'' ), ''The Women's Review of Books'', May 1, 1994 .〕 while Dove was serving as United States Poet Laureate. It was substantially revised in 1996 in preparation for its first production.〔Malin Pereira, ''Rita Dove's Cosmopolitanism'' (University of Illinois Press, 2003), ISBN 978-0252028373, pp. 31ff. (Excerpts available ) at Google Books.〕 The play is set on a slave plantation in antebellum South Carolina, and is based on the Greek legend of Oedipus, and on Sophocles' play ''Oedipus the King'' in particular.〔''The Darker Face of the Earth'', ''American Theatre Magazine'', November 1, 1996 (includes notes, playwright interview, and text of the play) .〕〔Therese Steffen, ''Crossing Color: Transcultural Space and Place in Rita Dove's Poetry, Fiction, and Drama'' (Oxford University Press, 2001), ISBN 978-0195350715, pp. 122-128. (Excerpts available ) at Google Books.〕 The play premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon in 1996.〔William T. Liston, ("The Darker Face of the Earth (review)" ), ''Theatre Journal'' 49.1 (1997) 65-67.〕 It was thereafter performed at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey〔Alvin Klein, ("THEATER REVIEW; An Ancient Tragedy Told as a More Recent One" ), ''The New York Times'', October 19, 1997.〕 and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.〔Lloyd Rose, ("'Darker Face': Poetic Injustice" ), ''The Washington Post'', November 7, 1997 .〕 In 1999 it had its London premiere at the Royal National Theatre.〔Michael Billington, ("Oedipus of Carolina" ), ''The Guardian'', August 6, 1999.〕〔Charles Spencer, ("Oedipal, but not complex" ), ''The Daily Telegraph'', August 9, 1999.〕 ==Characters== Amalia Jennings Lafarge: A white plantation owner/mistress who gives birth to Augustus, the son of Hector. Later on she and Augustus become lovers. Augustus Newcastle (): The son of Amalia and Hector, sold into slavery. Louis Fafrage: Amalia’s violent and impulsive white husband who has seduced many slave women. Phebe: A slave that has romantic feelings for Augustus. Scylla: A slave, prophet, and voodoo practitioner. Hector: The slave Amalia seduced, resulting in the birth of Augustus. Other Slaves on the Jennings plantation /Chorus: Diana, Ticey, Scipio, Psyche and Alexander. Doctor: The person present at Augustus's birth who suggested selling him rather than killing him. Jones (): A white man who watches over the slaves by the order of the Jennings family. Leader, Benjamin Skenne, and Henry Blake: Two slaves and one free man recruiting comrades to start a slave revolt in the area. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Darker Face of the Earth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|