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The Message and the Jehanne

10 Minute Play, Drama  /  1w, 2m

This short play, set in a goldsmith's shop in Renaissance Paris, is part of Thornton Wilder's Playlets: Short, Short Plays for 3-5 Persons .

The Message and the Jehanne

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    10 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period
  • Suggested Use
    • Competition or Audition Material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for All Audiences

Details

Summary

“A goldsmith’s shop in Renaissance Paris... The tops of the shop windows are just above the level of the street, and through them we see the procession of shoes, any one of them a novel or a play or a poem...”

Charles of Benicet, the goldsmith, is also a composer. Whether he is a better composer than goldsmith is not clear. It is to be hoped, however, that Tullio, his apprentice, will prove to be a better apprentice than messenger. Tullio mixes up deliveries of engagement rings, and changes lives in the process. 

Of Note: The script for Wilder’s The Christmas Interludes II calls for a performance of the “sweet musick” Benicet composed for “those who play the viol by the Church of Notre Dame de Ytelle.” Jehanne is pronounced “Jean”.

This short play is included in the collection Thornton Wilder's Playlets: Short, Short Plays for 3-5 Persons.

History
This play was first published in the Yale Literary Magazine in November 1917, Wilder’s sophomore year. A slightly revised version appeared in Theatre Guild Magazine in 1928. This marked the first appearance of a Wilder play in a major magazine devoted to drama.
Cast Attributes

CHARLES

TULLIO

LADY JEHANNE

  • Time Period Medieval (6th-14th Century)
  • Setting A goldsmith's shop in Renaissance Paris.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration 10 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

Videos

  • Thornton Wilder: It's Time youtube thumbnail

    Thornton Wilder: It's Time

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £15 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

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Authors

Thornton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one ...

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