MYSTERIUM is a powerful dramatic retelling of the historical events surrounding the trial and public burning of Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant Archbishop of the Anglican Church. The action of the play is set in England in 553 A.D. as Mary ascends to the English throne after the untimely death of King Edward, which places the Archbishop in direct conflict with the new Catholic queen. Arrested and tried first for treason and then for heresy, Thomas Cranmer endures the machinations of an English monarch and her politicized Papal Legate who conspire to make an example out of the de facto leader of the English Reformation. Buffeted by the brutality of the queen's inquisitors and torn by his own self-doubts, Cranmer eventually discovers the truth of his own calling and stands boldly in his final hours to give testimony to the goodness of God and the glory of Christ in his Church.

GADFLY explores the power of the establishment to determine what we call accepted Truth, and chronicles how it has historically been the outsider that has moved our understanding of Truth forward. The play is a cosmic Cabaret where special guests are invited to defend their teachings or actions, to include Socrates, Copernicus, Columbus, Galileo, Einstein, Darwin, and science philosopher William Dembski, to name a few. These visitations are marshaled by a musical Poet Guide named Virgil, who is backed by a British threesome with a ukulele and a squeeze box. Virgil keeps the action moving forward as the "Idols of the Institution" play judge and jury over the minds of our history's greatest thinkers. The resulting journey beyond space and time sheds light on the present claims of science in the contemporary age as compared to the claims of our greatest thinkers down through the ages. It is, above all else, an exoneration of contemporary scholars to pursue truth wherever they find it.

In GLORIA DEI, a court order allows a brain-dead woman to die of starvation, but she is poisoned before her body gives way to deprivation. A priest is accused of the crime. Is it murder or mercy killing? Forced to stand against the tyranny of an unethical judicial system, the priest risks everything to find justice for his friend and retribution for the courts that starved her. This powerful courtroom drama is an unapologetic exploration of the toxic mire of the right-to-life debate.

Joe is white, southern, and the chair of the local Right-to-Life committee. His wife, Mary, was raped by a black man, and is now pregnant. Joe's southern upbringing makes the thought of bringing this child into the world unbearable, so he wants to abort the baby. Counseled against his dangerous course of action by pastors and friends, Joe forces his wife to terminate the pregnancy, ending his relationship with church, friends, and community. As Mary takes a stand against her husband's demands, long-guarded secrets come to light, driving Joe to choices that destroy them both. PURGING MARY is an uncompromising exploration of the political and social intricacies of abortion-on-demand in America.

Three Plays. Three Hotly-Contested Social Issues. One Powerful Collection. Ideologies collide in DOGFALL as a suicide doctor and his rival grapple for the political high ground. Winner of the Getchell Award, this play is an unflinching exploration of the political and social morass of the right-to-die debate. Religious creeds crumble in PURGING MARY when the wife of a white, southern right-to-life crusader is raped and impregnated by a black man. Forced by inbred bigotry to reconsider his ethical position, the crusader sets out on a journey that destroys everything he holds dear. This tightly-written play is an uncompromising exploration of the political and social intricacies of abortion-on-demand in America. In GLORIA DEI, a court order allows a brain-dead woman to die of starvation, but she is poisoned before her body gives way to deprivation. A priest is accused of the crime. Is it murder or mercy killing? A powerful courtroom drama that explores the right-to-life debate.

LUMINARIUM is a dramatic retelling of the conversion of King Drtad, the first of the Armenian kings to embrace the Christian faith. The action of the play is set in 284 A.D. in the Palace of King Drtad where Gregory has laid aside his noble pedigree to become a servant in the house of the King. The conflict rises when the King calls upon Gregory to make sacrifice to the goddess Anahid. Gregory declines the offer, which kindles the King's anger and lands him in the King's dungeon. Gregory endures torture with grace and patience, believing that his suffering will lead to the King's conversion. When the King discovers that Gregory is the son of the assassin that killed the King's father, he rejects Gregory's faith claims and sentences him to die in the dungeon without food or water, releasing a curse upon the kingdom and hastening the play's tumultuous conclusion--the King's conversion and Gregory's miraculous survival.

Dr. Jake McKenzie, Dallas' famed suicide doctor, is on trial. Mike Howard, a vigilante from the far political right, plays judge, jury, and executioner to the kidnapped doctor. Political and religious ideologies collide as the two urban titans grapple for the political high ground, even for their very lives. The resulting tempest of venomous philosophy and twisted dogma make it difficult to separate predator from prey or zealot from ideologue. But when the doctor's darkest secret comes to light, both characters are thrown into turmoil, forcing the play to its frightful conclusion. Laced with humor, DOGFALL is an unflinching exploration of the political and social morass of the right-to-die debate in America today.

The Horton Foote Review is the scholarly journal of the Horton Foote Society, which is dedicated to the study of the life and work of the great American dramatist. Having received two Academy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the National Medal of Arts, Horton Foote is one of the most important living figures in the American Theater today. The six scholarly essays in this first volume of the journal are by scholars from diverse fields of learning and explore the importance of Mr. Foote's work (both stage and film) to the American literary tradition, with an eye for the importance of American drama during the twentieth century. The journal will appeal to anyone who believes in the power of drama as a sustaining influence in society. Contributors include: Richard A. Lusky, Robert Donahoo, Laurin Porter, Elizabeth Fifer, Meredith Sutton, and Gerald C. Wood.