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The Manchurian Candidate
Author(s):
John Lahr
Raymond Shaw is a young American hero, the first Congressional Medal of Honor winner since Vietnam. Decorated for saving his troops in a peacekeeping mission in the Middle East, he has returned to the U.S. and a career as a journalist in Washington, D.C. His wealthy widowed mother has married the repugnant racist Senator John Iselin, wedding her lust for power to his crude demagoguery. Through ruthless manipulation of the media, the power elite, and the disenchanted masses, Mrs. Iselin maneuvers her husband closer and closer to the vice-presidential nomination. She even masterminds Raymond's marriage to Jocie Jordan, the beautiful daughter of Senator Tom Jordan, the favored candidate for vice-president. In a series of chilling flashbacks, Raymond is shown to have been no war hero, but a prisoner brainwashed by mysterious captors in the Middle East. It was during the brainwashing sessions that Raymond killed several of his own men in cold blood, was told he saved them, and the seeds were planted for future murders using Raymond as the dupe. One of the other prisoners, and a survivor, was Ben Marco, who discovers the international conspiracy which depends upon Raymond killing a number of prominent figures. As Ben vainly attempts to find someone to believe him in order to stop the killing, Raymond struggles to understand his own dreams and flashbacks while systematically murdering the people who are blocking the Iselin nomination: the savvy editor of his newspaper, his father-in-law, and even Jocie. When Ben finally unravels the final step in the plot, he races to the Republican Convention to prevent Raymond from completing the final murder: the assassination of the president, who has just chosen Johnny Iselin as his running mate. In his last confrontation with his mother, Raymond learns that she has been a part of this ongoing plot and has used him as a murdering pawn in her scheme to put Johnny Iselin in the White House. With a deep, incestuous kiss, she sends him to his fate. As these characters engage in the final battle for ultimate power, the play reaches a crescendo of almost unbearable suspense.
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| Genre(s): | Drama
| | Time Period(s): | Not Available | | Play Type: | Play | | Runtime: | Not Available | | Acts: | Not Available | | Set Complexity: | Not Available | | Set Information: | Not Available | | Year First Published: | Not Available | | Total Characters: | 14 | | Male Characters: | 9 | | Female Characters: | 5 | | Androgynous Characters: | Not Available | | Minimum Cast: | Not Available | | Maximum Cast: | Not Available | | Cost: | FEE: $50 per performance
Royalty/cost information prone to change.
Please check with the publisher for the most accurate information. | | Publisher: | Dramatists Play Service
Click on the publisher's name above for additional information, including updated prices. | | ISBN: | Not Available |
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