 | The Dark at the Top of the StairsWilliam Inge | Drama Full Length 3 men, 2 women, 3 boys, 2 girls: 10 total Interior "A moving, perceptive and effective drama." —NY Post. "William Inge…possesses a kind of magic, it is the magic of language, of never using a false word or phrase…" —NY Newsday. Book/Item: THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS Book Type: DPS Price: $8.00 ISBN/Code: 978-0-8222-0271-4 FEE: $75 per performance.
THE STORY: The setting is a small Oklahoma town in the early 1920s and the home of the Flood family. Here we find Rubin, a traveling salesman for a harness firm, Cora, his sensitive and lovely wife, Sonny, their little boy and Reenie, their teenage daughter. The plot consists of a series of short stories — the fight between a husband and wife; the fear of an overly shy young girl on going to a dance; the problems of an introverted little boy who feels that the whole world is against him; the corroding marriage of Cora's rowdy sister; and the tragedy of a military school cadet who suffers from the stigma of being a Jew in an alien community. The play's message is that there is dark at the top of everyone's stairs, but that it can be dissipated by understanding, tolerance and compassion.
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