Agnes
Grace Andreacchi
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Speaking parts:
ANGEL
AGNES
PREFECT
EMERENTIANA, younger sister to Agnes, about ten years old
CHORUS, of at least two
Non-speaking parts:
GUARD
YOUNG MAN IN BROTHEL
EXECUTIONER, wears a black mask and sword
MOTHER to Agnes
PROLOGUE
[The ANGEL appears alone on a dark stage, in a circle of light. His face is covered by an iconic angel mask. His appearance should be simple, masculine, somewhat military, like that of the angels in Byzantine paintings. He wears a sword at his side.]
ANGEL Night, and the ancient city slumbers Troubled sleep, evil dreams. Things unholy stink in the sewers, swarm in the shadows, huddle in dark corners and under beds. A city white and gold, slashed with crimson. A city steeped in the blood of children. Sated with cruelty, Rome sleeps, soon to wake, ravenous. O, soon to wake, roaring for human blood in the hot bazaars where everything is for sale-- even the soul of a child.
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Grace Andreacchi is an American-born novelist, poet and playwright. Works include the novels Scarabocchio and Poetry and Fear, Music for Glass Orchestra (Serpent's Tail), Give My Heart Ease (New American Writing Award), and the chapbook Elysian Sonnets. Her work appears in Horizon Review, Eclectica, Word Riot, and many other fine places. Grace is also managing editor at Andromache Books and an assistant editor at Sotto Voce Magazine. She lives in London.
