Diane Sampson

What happens when passionate activism and family needs collide? The Greater Good addresses this question. Mark Cohen heads an NGO whose mission is to educate the public about the genocide occurring in Dagani, an East African country, and he is planning a protest at their Embassy. He is also determined to free five journalists being tortured in a Dagani prison. His wife, Laura, a painter, supports him but is frustrated by his increased pre-occupation and seeming indifference to her work. Zoe, their daughter, feels neglected. Anton Kotnik, a Slovenian journalist whose release Mark has already procured, arrives to speak at the protest, and is interviewed by Celia Ebersol, a local newswoman and Mark’s former lover. Anton and Celia flirt and arrange an assignation. Laura learns a painting of hers will be shown in a prestigious gallery and Zoe hears she’s been accepted at Cornell, but tensions continue to mount when Mark’s response to Zoe’s news disappoints her and Anton returns drunk from his tryst with Celia. Mark’s protest is overshadowed by a mass demonstration triggered by a just-announced not guilty verdict in a trial involving a police shooting, but his disappointment is mitigated when the State Department authorizes him to go to Dagani if the journalists aren’t freed soon. Laura is appalled that he would put himself in such danger. She accuses him of being on an ego trip. He responds that no one’s motives are pure; it’s a question of saving lives. They argue and he knocks over a wine glass, ruining the accepted painting. The play ends with Laura going away to paint and think, leaving Mark to decide whether or not to go to Dagani. What should he decide? Is there a “greater good?”

The "height-challenged Princess Felicitella struggles to grow, both literally and figuratively, with the help of The Royal Gynecologist, a love-sick entrepreneur, and the proverbial Narrator.