''Philemon'' is a 1975
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
by
Tom Jones and
Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Lester Schmidt (September 12, 1929 – February 28, 2018) was an American composer for musical theatre and illustrator. He was best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, ''The Fantasticks'', which ran off ...
. The show was produced on ''Hollywood Television Theatre'' in 1976 with the original cast and directed by
Norman Lloyd
Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...
. It had a brief
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
revival in 1991.
Plot summary
Set in the city of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
(in the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
) during the third century, the
Roman army
The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
has been ordered to hunt and kill all
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. Marcus Gallerius, the commander of the Roman garrison hires a desperate
street performer
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...
, Cockian, to impersonate the Christian
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
Philemon, so that he may lure the true leader of the Christian
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
. Cockian at first is unwilling to assume this
role
A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, moral obligation, obligations, beliefs, and social norm, norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavi ...
, but once his freedom is promised for carrying out this task, he agrees. The role is simple enough - living in a jail cell and intercepting any secret messages that may come through. Cockian meets Andos, a seemingly young
prisoner
A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison.
...
who is responsible for seeing to Philemon's needs. But soon, the relationship between Andos and Cockian grows as the latter begins to see in him his deceased son. Cockian begins to realize that he identifies more and more with the values promulgated by Christianity. By the end of the play, when Cockian is given the chance to
escape
Escape or Escaping may refer to:
Computing
* Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation
** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...
, he denies and instead attempts to make the Commander see the world in a new light, and embrace the values of love and freedom for all that he has come to appreciate. The Commander soon realizes that Cockian has transformed, and that while he had initially only been playing the role of Philemon, that he has now become Philemon, and when given the choice between life as Cockian or death as the Christian leader, Philemon chooses to die as a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
.
Principal characters
Cockian: a street performer who has a lengthy criminal record and who is recruited by the Commander to impersonate Philemon in exchange for the promise of having all his other charges dropped and free passage home.
Marcus: the commander of the Roman garrison who convinces Cockian to impersonate the Christian leader, Philemon. The Commander is a character who believes strongly in the institution of
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
and order as means of creating a world without flaws. He believes that
executing Philemon will set an example for the rest of the Christian underground and succeed in its
suppression
Suppression may refer to:
Laws
* Suppression of Communism Act
*Suppression order a type of censorship where a court rules that certain information cannot be published
* Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand aimed ...
.
Servillus: adjutant to the commander. Sevillus represents the Roman military; he takes orders from Marcus and acts as guard and enforcer on the streets of Antioch. At the end of the play, Servillus carries out the
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
of Cockian.
Andos: an eighteen-year-old prisoner in Antioch prison who has recently
converted to Christianity for his
expecting wife. Andos serves to Cockian as a messenger and his connection to the other Christian prisoners.
Kiki: Cockian's girlfriend, and his partner in their street act. Though mentioned only subtly, Kiki was once a
prostitute
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
, who believed that her relationship with Cockian would prove to be an escape from having to sell herself. Thus, when Cockian suggests that she prostitute herself for one more night in order to help him make some money, she leaves him with strong emotions of betrayal and anger, and then turns him into the authorities for his crimes.
Marsyas: Cockian's dead wife who returns to haunt him in a
nightmare
A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...
. Cockian has taken full responsibility for her death, as she died in childbirth, and is haunted by the sound of her voice several times throughout the show. When Marsyas died, she was considerably younger than Cockian is in the play, and the song she sings during the show (which haunts Cockian) serves to remind him of his age.
Woman (the Wife): the wife of the underground Christian leader who was killed. Her visit is ultimately one of the triggering factors which finally pushes Cockian to truly becoming Philemon: not only then does she bestow upon him the responsibility of becoming the leader of the underground, but she tells him of Andos' death which is of paramount importance to Cockian as Andos reminds him of his deceased son. She also teaches him, through a letter written to her husband, the importance of love.
Songs
;Act I
*Within This Empty Space
*The Streets of Antioch Stink
*Gimme A Good Digestion
*Don't Kiki Me
*I'd Do Almost Anything to Get Out of Here and Go Home
*He's Coming/Antioch Prison
*Name: Cockian
;Act II
*I Love Order
*My Secret Dream
*I Love His Face
*Sometimes/Protest
*The Nightmare
*The Greatest of These
*The Confrontation
:(a) How Free I Feel
:(b) Oh, How Easy to Be Scornful
:(c) Come with Me
*The Vision
:(a) I See a Light
:Greatest of These (reprise)
:(b) Within This Empty Space
Awards
*
Dick Latessa
Richard Robert Latessa (September 15, 1929 – December 19, 2016) was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Early life
Latessa was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929. After serving in the Army in maybe 1952, he began performing in Clevela ...
— 1975
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
for Best Performance
Obie Award winners 1974–1975
Retrieved 25 November 2009.
References
External links
''Philemon''
at the Internet Off Broadway Database
''Philemon'' 1991 revival
at the Internet Off Broadway Database
''Philemon''
at the Music Theatre International website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philemon (Musical)
1975 musicals
Off-Broadway musicals