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A Fair Country
Author(s):
Jon Robin Baitz
It is 1987 and Gil Burgess, a young archeologist, is alone in the Mexican jungle at dusk when his estranged mother, Patrice, suddenly arrives. The rift between them goes back to 1977 when Gil was a teenager living with his parents in Durban, South Africa. We go back to Durban where Harry, Gil’s father, is a U.S. Information Officer. The political situation in South Africa takes a huge toll on his family, and Harry is desperate to get a new post. Patrice is close to having a nervous breakdown, and Gil bears the brunt of her condition since Harry travels frequently. Things come to a head when Gil’s older brother, Alec, a budding radical and Columbia Journalism major, comes for a visit. When he arrives, Harry is offered a cushy cultural affairs job in the Hague if he’ll provide his superior with a list of Alec’s friends in the anti-Apartheid underground. Harry refuses, but as tensions threaten to tear his family apart he reconsiders. Two years later, the Burgesses have moved to the Hague, but their problems follow them. Gil, withdrawn from his parents, is desperate to escape. Patrice verges on alcoholism, and Harry continues to try to ignore the problems around him. Alec arrives for a New Year’s visit after first stopping in South Africa. Upon his arrival, an angry Alec reveals that he was expelled from South Africa--for his own protection. All of his friends in the South African underground are dead or in prison, and Alec has received death threats. Harry’s deceit is soon revealed and the family is finally ripped apart despite his best intentions. Alec leaves, telling Harry that he just killed him. Gil, seeing his opportunity and unforgiving of his father, leaves with Alec. Now, ten years later, Gil is back in the jungle, and a poacher prowls the area looking for artifacts to steal. Alec has indeed been killed while working on an article in South Africa, and Harry has recently died. Though defenseless, Gil and Patrice scream into the night to try and frighten the poacher. In doing so they find they may still have each other.
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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: | 8 | | Male Characters: | 6 | | Female Characters: | 2 | | Androgynous Characters: | Not Available | | Minimum Cast: | Not Available | | Maximum Cast: | Not Available | | Cost: | FEE: $60 per performance. SPECIAL NOTE: A CD and cue sheet containing the original music composed by Robert Waldman for the New York production of this play is available through the Play Service for $30.00, which includes packing and regular shipping. There is an additional fee of $15.00 per performance for the use of this music
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: |
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