A commedia dell arte-like troupe strolls into your theatre to the jingle-clatter accompaniment of their props (pots, pans, toy guns). They present five modern fables about our encounter with our environment and our neighbors. Jerome McDonough has the true artist's ability to give fresh new insights into the way we mishandle our lives and our world. The playlets (fables) are The Clowns who build a casket around the old folks; The Genii, in which a young girl wishes for a genie, and one appears (or is it just a boy from the next town?); The Glutton, a touching, symbolically dynamic scene mainly in pantomime; The Bogey, showing a harried businessman vainly seeking escape from conformity; The Drums, in which two armies play at war while a young couple whisper words of love at their feet.

What does it all mean? Each member of the audience will interpret the play according to his own background, his own personality, and—especially—his mood as he watches the play. The playwright tried to give the play a floating, timeless feeling that would enable each viewer to make his own interpretations, character analyses, and symbol clarification.

The premiere at West Texas State University won five of seven "Oscars" as the best of 40 student-directed plays.

Excellent contest material for university, community, and high school groups. One act; bare stage; costumes may be blue jeans and sweatshirts. A Director's Script (prompt book) is available from the publisher. It contains drawings of costumes and set, details on all technical aspects of staging, discussion of characterization, plot, and theme. It also suggests the complete blocking and full stage directions for all movement and business.

"My experience in working with your scripts has always been positive. We had some good times with Fables...and we see Eden as an equally good challenge."—Joy Bashara, Superior, Wis., H. S. "We ask your permission to perform Jerome McDonough's Fables at our international Drama Festival in Yokohama." —Zama American H.S., Japan.

Other McDonough original plays: Asylum, Filiation, Limbo, Mirrors, Plots, Requiem, Reunion, Stages, Stations

Other plays with Commedia Dell'Arte flavor: The Comedy of Errors, The Divine Commedia, Happily Ever After; Of Winners, Losers, and Games; Pinocchio Commedia, Professor Zuccini's Traveling Tales