The Death of King Philip

THE STORY: Set in colonial America, the play tells the story of Mary Rowlandson, who is abducted with her baby son during an Indian uprising that left a dozen New England settlements in ruins. At first we meet Mary as a woman of sixty recalling the momentous event of her youth; then Mary at thirty appears and acts out the events themselves-her capture by the Indian leader, King Philip; and the retribution exacted by her fanatical minister husband, Joseph Rowlandson, and the other settlers. In a series of deftly written, compelling scenes, the irony of the situation in which the protagonists find themselves is made clear: The noble, dignified Indian leader is forced into savage acts of vengeance against his will; while the God-fearing Puritans, despite the teachings of their church, counter with equally terrible acts. In the end King Philip, accepting the inevitable, lays down his arms and surrenders to his fate; yet, as the play so eloquently confirms, the end result is not a matter of victory-but, rather, of the sowing of the seeds of white racism which will bear bitter fruit in succeeding generations.