The Spanish Prayer Book

L.A. Times Best Bet ("A literate meditation on the boundaries of art and social responsibility")
Praised by former Pulitzer Prize Jury Chair and L.A. Weekly Theatre Critic Steven Leigh Morris as "a beautiful, intricate, and important new play . . . [and] descendant of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia")
ATHE Award for Excellence in Playwriting - 2nd Place Winner, top 21 (from a field of over 1300) for the Moss Hart and...

L.A. Times Best Bet ("A literate meditation on the boundaries of art and social responsibility")
Praised by former Pulitzer Prize Jury Chair and L.A. Weekly Theatre Critic Steven Leigh Morris as "a beautiful, intricate, and important new play . . . [and] descendant of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia")
ATHE Award for Excellence in Playwriting - 2nd Place Winner, top 21 (from a field of over 1300) for the Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle Hart New Works Project, Eugene O'Neill NPC Semi-Finalist, PlayPenn - Top-12 Finalist, Julie Harris Award - top 5, Official Selection for FutureFest, HRC Showcase;
Theatre 503 (London) - International New Play Award - Semi-finalist

A committed atheist inherits a collection of rare and extremely valuable illustrated Hebrew manuscripts, including a prayer book from fourteenth-century Spain. A moral dilemma, historical mystery, and matters of the heart converge following the discovery that the books, which bear witness to overlapping Jewish and Islamic traditions, were stolen, some six-hundred years after their creation, from a library in 1940s Berlin. Inspired by true events and a late twentieth-century court case, and using projected images from the books themselves, the play explores the allure of sacred manuscripts, the ethical issues generated by cultural treasures displaced during wartime, and the power of art to forge human connections.

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The Spanish Prayer Book

Recommended by

  • Daniel Olivas: The Spanish Prayer Book

    I recently saw the Road Theatre Company's production of The Spanish Prayer Book and was deeply moved by it. Ms. Davis's play not only explores the ethical questions of religious and cultural ownership, but also the often competing values across generations, countries, and religions. Though the subject matter includes the Holocaust as the backdrop, Ms. Davis imbues the narrative with gentle humor as her characters struggle with trying to do the right thing. I highly recommend this play.

    I recently saw the Road Theatre Company's production of The Spanish Prayer Book and was deeply moved by it. Ms. Davis's play not only explores the ethical questions of religious and cultural ownership, but also the often competing values across generations, countries, and religions. Though the subject matter includes the Holocaust as the backdrop, Ms. Davis imbues the narrative with gentle humor as her characters struggle with trying to do the right thing. I highly recommend this play.

Development History

  • Type Workshop, Organization HRC Showcase [forthcoming], Year 2018
  • Type Workshop, Organization The Road Theatre Company - Summer Playwrights Festival,
  • Type Workshop, Organization The Blank Theatre - Living Room Series,
  • Type Workshop, Organization Dayton Playhouse FutureFest,

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization The Road Theatre Company - World Premiere, Year 2019

Awards

  • PCTC Rodriguez (NYC) New-Play Award - Top-5 finalist
    2018
  • HRC Showcase - Official Selection
  • SETC (Getchell) New Play Award - First Alternate Winner
  • FutureFest - Official Selection
  • Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative semi-finalist [one of 16 out of 1200+]
  • Julie Harris Award - finalist (top 5)
  • MultiStages (NYC) New-Play Award - final round (top 12)
  • ATHE Award for Excellence in Playwriting - Second Place Winner
  • Finalist - PlayPENN National Play Development Conference
  • O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
    Semi-Finalist