SOME NOTES ABOUT THE PLAY:

I see the play as requiring the actors to perform with a serious demeanor in order to enhance the nightmarish and grotesque effect of their words and actions. The performers should not display any awareness of the irony of what they are revealing…if they do, they will deprive the audience of the chief pleasure the play can provide: the chance to discover for themselves the true nature of the world that is projected. Let the audience have the fun.

As to the sets: they must be kept simple and abstract. No need for any but the sketchiest props. The words and the actions will, it is hoped, provide enough of the special reality of Child of Destiny. A table, a chair or two would be sufficient for most scenes. Maybe a painted backdrop in a couple of places. The actors can often use pantomime gestures in place of physical props.

With regard to the cast: although there are thirteen speaking parts (seventeen if the "Options" are counted as separate roles). The actual cast would be much smaller. A number of roles MUST be double cast.
Thus: one actress plays the following roles:
Eulalia
The Options-A through E
The Interviewer

The other actress plays these roles:
The Examiner
Lilith
Miss Miss

For the supporting male roles, there can be some double casting, but it is not
essential. For example, one actor might play both Mr. Light and George Caseman, and another actor might do both Mr. Dark and Mr. Mann.
Thus the play can be done with a cast of two actresses and either five or seven male actors…for speaking roles. The "Invisible on stage audiences" could be tape recorded or could be done live. The movers in scene five would indeed be stagehands
the action of the play comes in eleven scenes:

I. The Dedication

II. The Qualifying Board

III. The Agency of Options

IV. The Chamber of Degrees

V. The Inauguration

VI. The World of Work

VII. Back to the Nest

VIII. The Salon

IX. Return to The Chamber of Degrees

X. The Citation

XI. After the Reception

There is one intermission-between Scene Five and Scene Six

The Characters
Abel Cain……………………………………….the protagonist
Eulalia…………………………………………...his mother
Herman (the Chief Judge)………………his father
Malachi…………………………………...…… his stepfather
Mr. Light
Mr. Dark
The Examiner
George Casemen
The Options
The Interviewer
Mr. Mann (The hairdresser)
Miss Miss (The manicurist)

Please note that the scroll that appears in the first scene will reappear in each of the following scenes…each time purporting to contain a new text. It is essential that the audience be aware of the recurrent appearance of the scroll.

Original Playbill: (illustrated by Post)