Winter in Paradise
Words & music by Stephen Mo Hanan
Music
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Script
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Score
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Winter in Paradise
Freely adapted from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
Set in American Samoa in 1902, Winter in Paradise follows Acting Commandant Marcellus Devine, a stern and zealous naval officer who imposes a harsh new law making fornication a capital crime. This sudden decree throws the island community into turmoil, especially young sailor Billy Pierce, who is imprisoned and sentenced to death for his love affair with Lila, a local woman now carrying his child. His sister, Isabel, a devout missionary, pleads for mercy from Devine, only to discover his hidden desires when he offers Billy’s life in exchange for her body.
As Deadeye, the sardonic beachcomber, observes the hypocrisies and moral failures around him, the island’s colorful inhabitants – sailors, whores, missionaries, and Samoans – navigate questions of love, power, sacrifice, and redemption. Through a vibrant score blending bawdy café songs, fervent hymns, and passionate ballads, Winter in Paradise explores how oppressive authority, righteous zeal, and forbidden desire collide in a steamy colonial outpost where winter resides in the hearts of those who fear love’s liberating power.
CHARACTERS
(in order of speaking)
DEADEYE, beachcomber extraordinaire, late 40’s
Lieutenant CALEB HUDSON, USN, 30
Commander MARCELLUS T. DEVINE, USN, Acting Commandant, late 30’s Able Seaman BILLY PIERCE, USN, 26
SLAPPER DOYLE, bartender, 50’s
MAMIE MORAN, proprietress of a house of pleasure, mid-30’s
LILA ROBLEY, Billy’s intended, 20
ISABEL PIERCE, Billy’s sister, a missionary, 30
and CAPTAIN WILBERFORCE, USN
And The Septet, who play:
MAIPITI
VUANA
PILU
CHARLES...........Samoans at Isabel’s mission, 20’s
TILLIE
BUTTERFLY
VIOLET..............whores at Mamie’s place, 20’s
THE MASTER-AT-ARMS SAILORS, WHORES, SAMOANS
(Members of the Septet may, at the director’s discretion, cross genders.)
NOTES
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