The Archbishop's Ceiling

Last updated

The Archbishop's Ceiling is a drama written in the 1970s by Arthur Miller. It was originally produced at the John F. Kennedy Center, with forty performances in April and May 1977, [1] but failed to attract the attention of Broadway. [2] Miller subsequently re-worked the play, with a revised script premiering at Cleveland Play House in 1984 under the direction of Jonathan Bolt. [3]

The setting is an ornate room in a former Archbishop's palace in an Eastern European capital, a room which has probably been bugged by the secret police. The central character is a middle-aged author, Sigmund, who, having embarrassed the current regime, is faced with the choice of detention and punishment or defection to the West. He is encouraged in the latter by two of his former friends, also writers, his compatriot Marcus, an ex-political prisoner now in favor with the regime, and Adrian, a visiting American with strongly liberal ideals. The situation is complicated by the presence of Maya, a poet and actress, who has been the mistress of all three. It is the complexity of the relationship of these four, the inextricable interweaving of politics, art and sex, and the constant uncertainty as to whether what they say may be overheard that makes for a rich and deeply intriguing play - and one which raises questions not only about morality but individual responsibility.

Characters

Adrian; Maya; Marcus; Irina; Sigmund

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Miller</span> American playwright and essayist (1915–2005)

Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 United States presidential election</span> 44th quadrennial U.S. presidential election

The 1960 United States presidential election was the 44th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. In a closely contested election, Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy defeated the incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee. This was the first election in which 50 states participated, marking the first participation of Alaska and Hawaii, and the last in which the District of Columbia did not. This made it the only presidential election where the threshold for victory was 269 electoral votes. It was also the first election in which an incumbent president –in this case, Dwight D. Eisenhower– was ineligible to run for a third term because of the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis</span> First Lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963

Jacqueline "Jackie" Lee Kennedy Onassis was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular first lady, she endeared the American public with her devotion to her family, dedication to the historic preservation of the White House, the campaigns she led to preserve and restore historic landmarks and architecture along with her interest in American history, culture and arts. During her lifetime, she was regarded as an international icon for her unique fashion choices, and her work as a cultural ambassador of the United States made her very popular globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldonian Theatre</span> Theatre in Oxford, England

Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1669 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, Warden of All Souls College and later chancellor of the University. Sheldon was the project's main financial backer. The theatre is used for music concerts, lectures and University ceremonies, but not for drama until 2015 when the Christ Church Dramatic Society staged a production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

<i>The Crucible</i> 1953 play by Arthur Miller

The Crucible is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government persecuted people accused of being communists. Miller was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts</span> US national cultural center in Washington, D.C.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was named in 1964 as a memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Opened on September 8, 1971, the center hosts many different genres of performance art, such as theater, dance, orchestras, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy Center Honors</span> Annual American honor in the performing arts

The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five honorees in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. While the awards are primarily given to individuals, they have occasionally been given to couples or musical groups, as well as to one Broadway musical and one television show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)</span> Catholic university in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota

The University of St. Thomas is a private Catholic research university with campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1885 as a Catholic seminary, it is named after Thomas Aquinas, the medieval Catholic theologian and philosopher who is the patron saint of students. As of fall 2021, St. Thomas enrolled 9,347 students, making it Minnesota's largest private, nonprofit university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.</span> American historian, social critic, and public intellectual (1917–2007)

Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a specialist in American history, much of Schlesinger's work explored the history of 20th-century American liberalism. In particular, his work focused on leaders such as Harry S. Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy. In the 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns, he was a primary speechwriter and adviser to the Democratic presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson II. Schlesinger served as special assistant and "court historian" to President Kennedy from 1961 to 1963. He wrote a detailed account of the Kennedy administration, from the 1960 presidential campaign to the president's state funeral, titled A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, which won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Sorensen</span> American lawyer and presidential adviser (1928–2010)

Theodore Chaikin Sorensen was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called him his "intellectual blood bank". Notably, though it was a collaborative effort with Kennedy, Sorensen was generally regarded as the author of the majority of the final text of Profiles in Courage, and stated in his memoir that he helped write the book. Profiles in Courage won Kennedy the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Sorensen helped draft Kennedy's inaugural address and was also the primary author of Kennedy's 1962 "We choose to go to the Moon" speech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site</span> Birthplace and childhood home of John F. Kennedy

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site is the birthplace and childhood home of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States. The house is at 83 Beals Street in the Coolidge Corner neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. Kennedy is one of four U.S. presidents born in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The property is now owned by the National Park Service; tours of the house are offered, and a film is presented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raúl Silva Henríquez</span> Chilean Roman Catholic prelate (1907–1999)

Raúl Silva Henríquez SDB was a Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal from 1962. He served as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile from 1961 to 1983 and as Bishop of Valparaíso from 1959 to 1961. Both as Archbishop and in retirement, he was an advocate for social justice and democracy and a forthright vocal critic of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet—"a constant thorn in the Government's side".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EXCOMM</span> Temporary defense committee during the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Executive Committee of the National Security Council was a body of United States government officials that convened to advise President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. It was composed of the regular members of the National Security Council, along with other men whose advice the President deemed useful during the crisis. EXCOMM was formally established by National Security Action Memorandum 196 on October 22, 1962. It was made up of twelve full members in addition to the president. Advisers frequently sat in on the meetings, which were held in the Cabinet Room of the White House's West Wing and secretly recorded by tape machines activated by Kennedy. None of the other committee members knew the meetings were being recorded, save probably the president's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Room</span> Event and reception room in the Executive Residence

The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence, which is a building of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for dances, receptions, press conferences, ceremonies, concerts, and banquets. The East Room was one of the last rooms to be finished and decorated, and it has undergone substantial redecoration over the past two centuries. Since 1964, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House has, by executive order, advised the president of the United States and first lady on the decor, preservation, and conservation of the East Room and other public rooms at the White House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John F. Kennedy</span> President of the United States from 1961 to 1963

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, often referred to by his initials JFK and by the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president and the youngest president at the end of his tenure. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to his presidency.

<i>After the Fall</i> (play) Play by Arthur Miller

After the Fall is a play by the American dramatist Arthur Miller.

<i>The Price</i> (play) Play written by Arthur Miller

The Price is a two-act play written in 1967 by Arthur Miller. It is about family dynamics, the price of furniture and the price of one's decisions. The play premiered on Broadway in 1968, and has been revived four times on Broadway. It was nominated for two 1968 Tony Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert F. Kennedy</span> American politician and lawyer (1925–1968)

Robert Francis Kennedy, also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968, when he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Like his brothers John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, he was a prominent member of the Democratic Party and is an icon of modern American liberalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Stock</span> Bishop of Leeds (born 1961)

Marcus Stock is an English bishop of the Catholic Church who has been the tenth Bishop of Leeds since 2014.

References

  1. Meersman, Rogers (1980). "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: The Early Years of Operation". Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 50: 637. JSTOR   40067837.
  2. , Rizzo, Frank. "Review: 'The Archbishop's Ceiling'" 28 August 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  3. , Pg. 3: Miller, Arthur. "The Archbishop's Ceiling." Retrieved 15 September 2014.