Overview
Synopsis
Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet is an award-winning play that chronicles a year in the life of two brothers--Lebanese-Americans Joseph and Charles Douaihy--whose father died of a heart attack two weeks after a car accident caused by a local high school football star placing a deer decoy in the middle of the road. While trying to cope with this, the brothers experience almost every other type of misfortune: personal, professional, and physical, and they fear that their lives will irreparably fall apart. Joseph, who was a runner training for the Olympic trials, has serious knee injuries and is working part-time as the professional and personal assistant of crazed book packager Gloria Gurney. Charles forges a positive relationship with Vin, the guilty football player, much to the dismay of the rest of his family, and he finds some comfort in the religion he had all but abandoned. The brothers’ Uncle Bill, who now has to live with them, is progressively becoming unable to care for himself. Joseph has a less-than-perfect affair with a reporter covering his story. Joseph and Charles must come to terms with their lot and must face the consequences of their actions. Much like Karam’s other plays, including Speech & Debate and The Humans, Sons of the Prophet, a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is a examination of the basic human condition and the innate dark comedy that is born from tragedy.
Show Information
- Book
- Stephen Karam
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Mature Audiences (M)
- Number of Acts
- 1
- First Produced
- 2011
- Genres
- Drama, Dark Comedy
- Settings
- Contemporary, Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- July 2006-March 2007, Eastern Pennsylvania
- Cast Size
- medium
- Orchestra Size
- None
- Dancing
- None
- Licensor
- Dramatists Play Service
- Ideal For
- College/University, Mostly Male Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Includes Adult, Late Teen, Young Adult, Mature Adult, Elderly Characters, Medium Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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