Synopsis
The Flowering Peach
Published by Dramatists Play Service
7 Male 4 Female
It is Mr Odets' mood not to put him on a pedestal but to characterize him as the worried head of a family of ordinary individuals - a peevish though loving hero who feels himself close to God
the story of how Noah persuades his skeptical family that God has given all of them a mission, how they bicker, yet do the job obediently, how God helps them solve the most prodigious problems, how they scamper into the ark when the rains fall
All this, told with sympathetic humor in the form of a folk fable, ought to be enough to delight and move any theatregoer,
In the second act the voyager concludes triumphantly with the grounding of the ark, the flowering of the peach, and the departure of the family in their several ways to replenish and fructify the earth
It is a triumphant conclusion, but after a long series of quarrels and sorrows that symbolize the eternal questioning of God's children" ~ Atkinson
" folk poem a retelling of the famous Biblical journey to Ararat a genuine folk gaiety, as warm as it is impudent, takes over the stage" ~ NY Herald Tribune
"There are hundreds of laughs" ~ NY Journal-American
"Mr Odets' new play is a beautiful one. His finest, in fact" ~ NY Times
Cast includes 4 animals which may be played by men or women