Description

JERICO

We do not know much about the conquest of Canaan. It began with the city of Jerico.  Two spies are sent by Joshua to seek out the first city they wish to conquer. Having to convince his wife, the first spy reasons that he is ensuring their son’s futures. The second spy has an unmarried and pregnant daughter to watch over. He promises to ensure her marriage upon his return from Jerico… Should they return… In this drama in one act, the men, uncertain of what they must leave behind, look ahead to Canaan and what God has asked them to do. There they find a city worshipping pagans and a whore whose house is a temple worthy of its transgressions, leading them closer to looting the true wealth of the city in this script about the fall of Jerico.

The mythic story of the conquest of Jerico, a wealthy trading city in the Land of Canaan, by the Israelites, as related in the Hebrew Bible’s ‘Book of Joshua’, is the foundation for this play.
Moses, the spiritual giant has died; Joshua, the warrior, has replaced him. The Israelites, a group of twelve tribes who had escaped slavery in Pharoah’s Egypt, have spent forty years traversing the Sinai desert in search of a home. During this time they have suffered all the privations of a hostile terrain including attacks by other
nomads, notably the tribe of Amalek. However, they have succeeded in consolidating their new religion and armed with a growing sense of confidence are ready to attempt the invasion of Canaan, the land of ‘Milk and Honey’, that their God has promised to them if they obey His laws.

The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the global debate about how to find a just solution to competing rights, shows that as a species we are still unable to rationally deal with struggles over land and security; instead of employing intelligence and compassion, we easily fall back on fanaticism and violence. Ultimately Jerico is a work that examines moral options as well as providing the
dramatic elements of a ‘thriller’.

PERFORMANCE HISTORY

The first performance of JERICO took place at The State Theatre, Pretoria on 2 March 2016

Author: Allan Kolski Horwitz

Type: Short Two-act play

Genre: Drama, Biblical, Historical, Political, script about the fall of Jerico

Cast: 8M, 5F

Ages of the actors: Adult

Suitable for: Older teens up

Length: 50-60 minutes

Set: ISRAELITE encampment:- two locations: down stage on either side, small areas on which are spread mats; two stools are placed on Spy 1’s side, one on Spy 2’s.
WHORE’s establishment: low table with three stools; two beds are placed on either side of the stage.
The palace of the KING and QUEEN of Jerico: two thrones.

Level of difficulty: 8/10 – it is always challenging to play a people from a time so far removed from our own. Remembering that people have acted essentially the same whenever they lived will help make this play more real.

Read a Sample of the Script

Contact Off The Wall Plays with any Queries about Jerico

Copyright © 2016 Allan Kolski Horwitz

Like this play? Others  like this script about the fall of Jerico:

Teru’ah – Political thriller set in an alternate history. Israel won the war.
The Scepter has departed – a play that explores the concept and reality of the war in the troubled Middle East
Fervan Cerato does not exist – one act political drama set in a country rocked by a Dictatorship