A Patch of Earth: A Courtroom Drama about the Bosnian War - Softcover

Felde, Kitty

Softcover

ISBN 10: 173597675X ISBN 13: 9781735976754

Publisher: Chesapeake Press, 2020

Synopsis

★ WINNER: Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition

They called him "the crybaby" who confessed to killing "no more than 70" of the 1200 men and boys shot in a cornfield near Srebrenica.They told him to shoot or be shot. What would you do?

A Patch of Earth is part courtroom drama, part ghost story, part magical realism.

5M, 4W, large ensemble. Excellent roles for women. Simple black box set.

Drazen Erdemovic is a twenty-something Bosnian Croat everyman with a hip haircut and bad acne scars. He fought for three different armies during the Bosnian war. He says he never killed anyone. Until the day he and his mates were sent to Srebrenica, where he was ordered to shoot or be shot. If he refused, his comrades threatened to shoot his young wife and child. He faces the ultimate dilemma: am I willing to kill another to save my own life?

Drazen is haunted by the ghosts of those he killed. It destroys his marriage. He tries to free himself from his demons by telling his story to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

The play asks the audience to consider two questions: What would I do if I were in his shoes? And what is a just punishment for his actions? A Patch of Earth brings the ethnic conflict in Bosnia home to those of us who don’t know the history, can’t pronounce the names, and can’t find it on a map.

★ Serious, minded-absorbing theater…a shattering experience. – The Orange County Daily Pilot

★ The story of Drazen Erdemovic raises questions that audiences will ponder on the way home, possibly long after. – The Detroit Free Press

★ Felde’s command of dramatic storytelling, and her skillful use of language promise a future life for A PATCH OF EARTH. – Buffalo Art Voice

★ Felde fuses factual and theatrical. Transcripts from Tribunal proceedings…along with realistic dialogue create a sense of universality in identifying the human anguish in the context of historical events.” – New England Theater Journal

★ Comes closest to the established genre of documentary theatre. – Human Rights Quarterly

★ A perfect show for a college: large cast, good women's roles … and it's topical. – Los Angeles Times

Award-winning public radio journalist and playwright Kitty Felde covered the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the first time since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials after World War II that the international community has held individuals responsible for war crimes. “I was too young for Nuremberg. This was my chance for viewing international justice. I knew I just had to be there.”

Felde also writes The Fina Mendoza Mysteries series of books and podcasts, designed to introduce civics to elementary age children. She is host and executive producer of the award-winning, Book Club for Kids podcast. More at www.kittyfelde.com.

Edition details

• Publisher: Chesapeake Press
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 173597675X
• ISBN 13: 9781735976754
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 76