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New play, 'Prodigal Son,' to be staged at Logan College

CARTERVILLE - A retired John A. Logan College English professor, Harris Mosley, has written a 64-page, five-act play based on the Prodigal Son parable.

Now, he's looking for actors and is taking names of people who want to audition. The play has 20 male and five female speaking parts.

"I have always enjoyed this beautiful story celebrating God's love and mercy," Mosley said. "As I listened to it one Sunday in church, I realized that this brief parable is filled with dramatic potential and raises several unanswered questions.

"For example, why did the younger son want his inheritance early? How did the father feel about letting his younger son have his inheritance early? What was the relationship between the two brothers? What convinced the younger son to return home? And perhaps most intriguing of all, why was the older son so angry when his younger brother returned?"

Mosley said that attempting to answer these questions led to the creation of his play.

"I wanted to keep the original tone and feel of the Biblical parable, so I did not update the story to modern times, nor did I want the dialogue to sound too contemporary," he said. "Many lines from the original parable are used verbatim in my adaptation."

Academic research played a large part in preparing the play as well, he said. During the writing, Mosley consulted with several local pastors for historical background. All his characters have authentic Bible names.

"I hope everyone comes to the play, but I especially invite churchgoing people to see it," Mosley said. "I think they would appreciate it and enjoy it the most.

"We especially need experienced actors for the three leading male roles: the father (Jedidiah), the older son (Joseph), and the younger son (Benjamin). "For Jedidiah, we need a man in his late 40s or early 50s," Mosley said.

"For Joseph, we want a strong young man between 25 and 30. For Benjamin, we're looking for a teenage lad between 18 and 22. The age range of all the characters is from 10 to 60 years."

Those interested in auditioning for the play, should call Mosley at (618) 985-5154 or send an email to harrymos@midwest.net.