Burning Bright: A Play in Three Acts

It's at the circus where we first meet the characters: Joe Saul, Victor and Mordeen are trapeze artists and Friend Ed, a clown. As the play develops, in a cleverly fascinating structure, the setting changes from circus to farm, then to a ship. Each character remains true to their "role," although changing to accommodate the setting. Through all of this the conflict of the drama stays intact: Joe Saul wants to have a child to carry on his blood line. After years of unsuccessful attempts with his young wife, Mordeen, he begins to dwell on his inadequacy. But she has a love for him that is stronger than he could ever imagine, and it's this love that would compel her to get pregnant from another man and call the future child Joe Saul's. This poses a problem for Victor, the surrogate father, for he wants Mordeen for his own. Joe Saul's best friend, Friend Ed, attempts to solve all the problems by disposing of the garrulous Victor. But then Joe's recent doctor's examination reveals to him the truth: The child can't possibly be his. At the end Joe Saul must do the only thing he can: swallow his pride and accept the child as a gift of love from his devoted wife."

Chronicling American dreams destroyed by either injustice or the simple difficulty of the world, John Steinbeck left lasting testaments to the struggles of working people in The Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row. His refusal to water down his realistic work got some of his books banned and earned him a Nobel Prize.