About the Play:

The Orphan is a full-length drama by David Rabe. From the author of HurlyBurly and In the Boom Boom Room, a brilliant synthesis of classic Greek drama and the conflicted character of contemporary America. The Orphan is a gonzo retelling of The Oresteia. Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, sex, drugs and the murderous Manson family collide in this comical but deeply disturbing look at our relationships with our mothers, fathers, and the nature of violence. 

The Orphan completes David Rabe's Vietnam trilogy of plays which deal with an individual destined for death or the living death of conformity and with the effect of policy and politics, the external circumstances acting on the man through exploitation of Vietnam by America. The Orphan focuses on a rural family that has lost a son to that war. The violence of the American nature and its political and military treatment in Vietnam are stronger themes with family structure, the subversion of family communication, siblings and homecomings as lesser themes. The Orphan uses Oresteia as its framework and makes connections between the Manson violence and that in Vietnam. In this version, Clytemnestra is dichotomized into two characters; one is sympathetic and the other vengeful. Other characters walk around with microphones to catch glimpses of the psychological and scientific factors effecting the action.

The Orphan premiered in 1973 at The Public Theater in New York City.

Cast: 6 women, 7 men.

What people say:

"A playwright of shining talent." — New York Times

About the Playwright:

David Rabe has been hailed as one of America's greatest living playwrights. Four of his plays have been nominated for the Tony Award, including one win for Best Play. He is the recipient of an Obie Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, Drama Desk Award, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and three Hull-Warriner Awards for playwriting, among others. He is also the author of numerous screenplays, two critically acclaimed novels and a collection of short stories. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, David Rabe lives with his family in Northwest Connecticut.