About the Play:

A Company of Wayward Saints is a full-length comedy by George Herman. This scripted Commedia dell'arte production, mocks hierarchical society and parodies different social stereotypes which still holds modern-day relevance.

A Company of Wayward Saints is about the star egos and stage antics of a travelling commedia dell' arte troupe. Desperate to earn the cash to return home, they eagerly take up the offer of a wealthy nobleman to supply the necessary funds if they can put on a good show for him. The Company manages to stray into modern times as they try to improvise ''The History of Man,'' from the Garden of Eden through Everyman in birth, adolescence, marriage and death. Along the way they enact other wayward adventures such as the assassination of Julius Caesar and the homecoming of Odysseus. It 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 high schools, colleges, and community theatres.

Cast: 3 women, 6 men

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. is an American playwright and writer. As a playwright, he has won numerous awards since 1953. His best known play is A Company of Wayward Saints. He has taught playwrighting and has been 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 has directed over 200 plays for numerous schools and theatres, has served as the Artistic Director for at least one theatre (the Commedia Repertory Theatre in Hawaii), and has 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." He now lives in Portland, Oregon.