The Rimers Of Eldritch
by Lanford Wilson

Name: The Rimers Of Eldritch
Brand: Lanford Wilson
SKU: 9780822209539
Rating: 3.65 (185 reviews)

Off-Broadway

The Rimers Of Eldritch Book Cover — The Rimers Of Eldritch Cover

Highlights

Medium Cast

Female

Male

120 mins 1960s Role(s) for Teen(s) Bare Stage/Simple Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes American

Awards & Recognition

Drama Desk Award

Winner! 1967 Drama Desk Vernon Rice Award

Synopsis

As Martin Gottfried comments, "It is a simple one.

A mystery, really.

A man has been murdered.

The mystery is, who he is, who murdered him and what were the circumstances?

And to solve it, Wilson looks at the outsides and insides of his tiny, Middle Western town.

He looks at a middle-aging woman who falls in love with the young man who comes to work in her cafe.

He looks at a coarse, nasty woman mistreating her senile mother, who is obsessed with visions of Eldritch being evil and headed for blood-spilling.

He looks at a tender relationship between a young man and a dreamy, crippled girl.

But Wilson sees far more than this.

He is grasping the very fabric of Bible Belt America, with its catchword morality ("virgin," "God-fearing") and its capability for the vicious.

He senses the rhythm of its life and the cruelty it can impose.

He understands the speech patterns of its loveless gossips, its sex-hungry boys, its compassionless preachers, its car-conscious blondes."

In the end his portrait of Eldritch is full length, and the truth of its revelations will be pondered long after the stage lights have dimmed and the play has ended.

Press Reviews

"It is of great effect, washed throughout with poetry and vibrant with individual style."
— Women’s Wear Daily

"This reviewer liked Rimers for its fluidity, for its language, for its almost musical sense of pattern."
— The New York Times

"It is a simple one. A mystery, really. A man has been murdered. The mystery is who he is, who murdered him and what were the circumstances? And to solve it, Wilson looks at the outsides and insides of his tiny, Midwestern town. Wilson is grasping the very fabric of Bible Belt America, with its catchword morality (‘virgin,‘ ‘God-fearing‘) and its capability for the vicious. He senses the rhythm of its life and the cruelty it can impose. He understands the speech patterns of its loveless gossips, its sex-hungry boys, its compassion-less preachers, its car-conscious blondes."
— Former drama critic, author and educator Martin Gottfried

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
ROBERT CONKLIN A small, quiet boy, 18	male	—	A small, quiet boy, 18
EVA JACKSON A disabled girl, 14	female	—	A disabled girl, 14
EVELYN JACKSON Her mother	female	—	Her mother
NELLY WINDROD A strong middle-aged woman	female	—	A strong middle-aged woman
MARY WINDROD Her developmentally disabled mother	female	—	Her developmentally disabled mother
PATSY JOHNSON A pretty high school student	—	—	A pretty high school student
MAVIS JOHNSON Her mother	female	—	Her mother
PECK JOHNSON Her father	male	—	Her father
JOSH JOHNSON Her brother	male	—	Her brother
LENA TRUIT Her girlfriend of the same age	female	—	Her girlfriend of the same age
MARTHA TRUIT Lena’s mother	female	—	Lena’s mother
WILMA ATKINS A friend of Lena’s mother	female	—	A friend of Lena’s mother
SKELLY MANNOR The town hermit/shut-in, about 60	—	60	The town hermit/shut-in, about 60
PREACHER and	—	—	and
JUDGE Played by the same actor, mid-50s	male	mid-50s	Played by the same actor, mid-50s
CORA GROVES Owner of Hilltop Café	—	—	Owner of Hilltop Café
WALTER Her young lover	—	—	Her young lover
TRUCKER a truck driver who stops by the café	—	—	a truck driver who stops by the café