Overview
Synopsis
In 1879, an idealistic farmer named Silas Morton had big dreams for the land his family pioneered. Determined to give future generations the education he never got, he founded Morton College on his hilltop. 40 years later, Felix Fejevary the Second, son of Silas Morton’s close friend, is head of Morton’s board of trustees. He has big dreams, too - to turn Morton College into an elite university. But the state funding he needs is threatened when Madeline Morton, Fejevary’s niece and Morton’s granddaughter, is arrested while protesting alongside two Hindu students on campus. Amid intense anti-radical sentiment during the height of the first Red Scare, Madeline’s activism could cost her freedom, unless she’s willing to let her powerful uncle exert his influence. One of America’s earliest contemporary historical dramas, Glaspell wrote Inheritors contemporaneously as a vigorous defense of individual ideals and freedom of speech.
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Characters
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Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in Inheritors.
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Key Terms
A political ideology often depicted or explored in 20th-century epic or protest theatre for social critique.
A group of performers who function as a unit in a production rather than as individuals with leading roles.
Works not protected by copyright and available for free use or adaptation. Many classical plays, including Shakespeare's, fall into the public domain.
A period of intense fear of communism in the U.S., reflected in politically charged theatre from the 20th century.
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Guide Written By:
Kevan Dunkelberg
Oklahoma-based drama teacher, actor and playwright