About the Play:

A Company of Wayward Saints is a full-length comedy by George Herman. Hoping to raise enough money to make their way home, an eccentric troupe of actors are commissioned to improvise the History of Man. From the Garden of Eden to the Voyage of Odysseus, A Company of Wayward Saints is a scripted Commedia dell'arte production that mocks hierarchical society and parodies different social stereotypes.

A Company of Wayward Saints is about the star egos and stage antics of a travelling – and broke – group of actors struggling to get back home. Their only hope hangs on a wealthy nobleman who promises to pay for their way home if they can put on a good show for him. The group, known as "La Compagnie de Santi Ostinati," or The Company of Wayward Saints, must put aside dreams of individual stardom and band together as they try to improvise a commedia dell' arte play entitled ''The History of Man,'' featuring stock characters from the Italian Renaissance. They spotlight notable moments in human history from the Garden of Eden through Everyman in birth, adolescence, marriage and death. Along the way the Company manages to stray into modern times as they enact other wayward adventures such as the assassination of Julius Caesar and the homecoming of Odysseus. A Company of Wayward Saints is a fine mosaic of life redeemed by humour and human understanding.

A Company of Wayward Saints premiered in 1963 at the University of Minnesota and won the McKnight Foundation Humanities Award in Drama. Within a year, about a dozen other universities had produced it. Since then the play has been produced in Europe, Canada, and South America and is regularly performed at middle schools, high schools, colleges, and community theatres.

Cast: 3 female, 6 male

What people say:

"The first part is amusing slapstick entertainment... [The second makes] a point about how pride and arrogance destroy collective efforts." — Hollywood Reporter

"Playwright George Herman's venerable chestnut teaches the importance of unity and greater good over that of individual selfishness. His fictitious troupe of nomadic actors specializes in the centuries-old style of commedia dell'arte, wherein stock characters — the lovers, the jester, the grouch, etc. – present improvised slapstick." — Backstage

About the Playwright:

George Adam Herman, Jr. (1928-2019) was an American playwright and writer. As a playwright, his best known play is A Company of Wayward Saints. He taught playwrighting and was the artist-in-residence at numerous American universities. For 16 years he lived and worked in Hawaii on the staff of the State Superintendent of Education. He directed over 200 plays for numerous schools and theatres, served as the Artistic Director for at least one theatre (the Commedia Repertory Theatre in Hawaii), and designed sets and lighting for more than 40 productions. In 1983 the Hawaii State House of Representatives honoured him for his 16 years in the islands as "a skillful director, actor, playwright and a perceptive, candid drama critic."