every tongue confess
by Marcus Gardley

every tongue confess Book Cover — every tongue confess Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins 1990s Role(s) for Black Actor(s) Ensemble Cast Multicultural Casting Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Synopsis

In Boligee, Alabama, the temperature is rising, hailstones are falling, ghosts are walking among the living, and someone is setting black churches on fire.

As one church burns to the ground, the parishioners trapped inside tell tales spanning generations that may unravel the mystery of who is behind the arsons.

Blending folklore, magic and real American history, every tongue confess is an epic fantasia that probes the line between redemption and damnation.

Press Reviews

"This is no ordinary piece of theatre. Part magic realism, part miracle play, part parable, every tongue confess is a sort of theatre-poem exploring sin, loss and redemption… Gardley’s script combines humor with raw, searing emotion… Not quite a legend and not quite a ghost story, every tongue confess fuses powerful elements of storytelling and myth."
— The Washingtonian

"A Greeks-inspired, August Wilson-channeling, pulpit-inflected gospel blues of a drama… Passages positively shimmer… Urgently poetic… There aren’t many people with the passion to make plays as big and complex as every tongue confess; it lives in the vast and terrifying territories roamed in this era by Wilson and Tony Kushner and Sarah Ruhl and Naomi Wallace. Heady company, that."
— Washington City Paper

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
MOTHER SISTER 49, black, a preacher and healer.	female	—	49, black, a preacher and healer.
SHADRACK 16, black, her son.	female	—	16, black, her son.
STOKER PRIDE 39, white, a chef at a two-star diner.	—	—	39, white, a chef at a two-star diner.
BENNY PRIDE 15, white, his daughter.	female	—	15, white, his daughter.
BERNADETTE 32, white, his wife.	female	—	32, white, his wife.
MISSIONARY 40s, black, a gossip. Same actor plays	male	40s	40s, black, a gossip. Same actor plays
TENDER	—	—	—
MEEKS , 40, a social worker.	—	40	, 40, a social worker.
BROTHER 30s, black, a gossip. Same actor plays	male	30s	30s, black, a gossip. Same actor plays
BOBBY , 33, Bernadette’s boyfriend.	male	—	, 33, Bernadette’s boyfriend.
ELDER 70s, black, a gossip. The same actor plays	male	70s	70s, black, a gossip. The same actor plays
JEREMIAH , 77, a gravedigger.	—	—	, 77, a gravedigger.
BLACKSMITH 33, black, a stranger.	—	—	33, black, a stranger.