The Canopic Jar of My Sins: A Medieval Morality Play for Latter-Day Postmodernists

by Justin Maxwell

The Canopic Jar of My Sins: A Medieval Morality Play for Latter Day Postmodernists is a play about culpability. The narrative follows Ralph Wiley, the scientist who invented plastic, as he fights to survive a show trial held on the massive island of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean. His tribunal consists of an angel, dead bird, and Roger Waters. After the trial, Wiley finds himself on the beach at Easter...

The Canopic Jar of My Sins: A Medieval Morality Play for Latter Day Postmodernists is a play about culpability. The narrative follows Ralph Wiley, the scientist who invented plastic, as he fights to survive a show trial held on the massive island of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean. His tribunal consists of an angel, dead bird, and Roger Waters. After the trial, Wiley finds himself on the beach at Easter Island, where he meets the last Easter Islander and Robert Oppenheimer. Then the angel shows up, and things get strange.

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The Canopic Jar of My Sins: A Medieval Morality Play for Latter-Day Postmodernists

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  • Gina Femia: The Canopic Jar of My Sins: A Medieval Morality Play for Latter-Day Postmodernists by Justin Maxwell
    “

    I really loved reading this play - it was so funny and there's so many moments of huge theatrical moments that I longed to see realized on stage. A great play.

    I really loved reading this play - it was so funny and there's so many moments of huge theatrical moments that I longed to see realized on stage. A great play.

    ”
Cast: 4, any
Doubling: The actor playing The Gooney Revenant should also play The Last Easter Islander; the actor playing The Roger Waters should also play Robert Oppenheimer.

While some of the characters are loosely inspired by real people, there is no need to correlate the performers to any age, gender, or ethnicity. In fact, the show is more fun without correlation.

Act I—The Show Trial Eschatology
Characters:
Ralph Wiley—the scientist who invents polyvinylidene chloride in 1933.
The Angel of Canopic Jars—an angel, it is powerful and relentlessly calm.
The Gooney Revenant—a revenant, the vengeful corpse of a sea bird.
The Roger Waters—a rock star, sardonic, egomaniac.

Act II—An Easter Island of the Mind
Characters:
Ralph Wiley—again.
The Angel of Canopic Jars—again.
The Last Easter Islander—a fanatic, unrelentingly upbeat.
Robert Oppenheimer—the destroyer of worlds, a scientist in a white lab coat.

Development History

  • Reading, Mirrorbox Theatre, 2020
  • Reading, Bemidji State University, 2018
  • Reading, Swandive Theatre, 2016
  • Reading, The Theatre at St. Claude, 2015

Production History

  • Professional, Swandive Theatre, 2019