J.B. (play)
J.B. | |
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Written by | ANTA Playhouse New York City |
Original language | English |
Subject | A retelling of the Book of Job |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | A stage inside an enormous circus tent |
J.B. is a 1958 play written in free verse by American playwright and poet Archibald MacLeish, and is a modern-day retelling of the story of the biblical figure Job. The play is about J.B. (a stand-in for Job), a devout millionaire with a happy domestic life whose life is ruined. The play went through several incarnations before it was finally published. MacLeish began the work in 1953 as a one-act production, but within three years, had expanded it to a full, three-act manuscript.
The play has won several accolades, including the 1959 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Two versions of J.B. are available, the original book, published by
Plot summary
The play opens in "a corner inside an enormous circus tent". Two vendors, Mr. Zuss (evoking the chief Greek god
Productions
A first production was mounted by the
The three-act version premiered on
An off-Broadway production by the Equity Library Theatre opened on March 17, 1962, at the Master Theatre, starring John Cazale.[5]
The play was performed at the
Characters
- J.B. – a millionaire, based on the Old Testament character Job
- Sarah – J.B.'s wife
- Mr. Zuss – a retired-actor-now-balloon-vendor in a circus, assuming the role of the Abrahamic God
- Nickles – a retired-actor-now-popcorn-vendor in a circus, assuming the role of Satan
- The Distant Voice – an anonymous voice that prompts more action in the play, suggested to be the voice of God
- The children of J.B. and Sarah – David (13), Mary (12), Jonathan (10), Ruth (8), and Rebecca (6)
- Two "buxom, middle-aged" Maids
- Two Messengers: "dressed as soldiers' in scene three, with "battered felt hats...a news camera... a notebook" in scene four, "wearing steel helmets and brassards" in scene six
- A "stylishly dressed" Girl (scene four)
- In scene eight, et seq.: "Four Women" (Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Botticelli, Mrs. Lesure, and Mrs. Murphy) and "a young girl" (Jolly Adams), "their arms filled with blankets and newspapers"
- In scene nine: '"Three Comforters ... in worn-out clothing": Zophar, a fat, red-faced man wearing "the wreck of a clerical collar", Eliphaz, lean and dark, wearing "an intern's jacket which once was white", and Bildad, a squat, thick man in a ragged wind-breaker"
Awards and nominations
The ANTA Playhouse production won the 1959
The play won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[6] The Pulitzer Prize committee wrote: " 'Certainly no other play of this or many seasons has attempted to come to grips with so large and universal a theme and succeeded in stating it in terms more eloquent, moving, provocative' than J.B."[7]
References
- ^ "Old Nick, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 9 April 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331
- ^ a b " J.B. 1958" playbillvault.com, accessed November 28, 2015
- ISSN 0362-4331
- ^ J.B. Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Lortel.com
- ^ "The 1959 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Drama". The Pulitzer Prizes.
- ISBN 3643903413, p. 88
External links
- J.B. at the Internet Broadway Database
- J.B. at the Internet Broadway Database
- J.B. at the Internet Off-Broadway Database