The Four Seasons of Wounded Knee (1996) 

                                                       Death of Bigfoot  (Public domain image)

Dr Ralph Morse is the author of a series of linked plays; "The Ghost Dance"; "Malleus Malificarum"; and "The Bridging Zone", through which the ideas of a number of theatrical practitioners maybe explored.  Collectively known as "The Four Seasons of Wounded Knee" they are of particular relevance to students of AS/A2 Theatre Studies .

The Ghost Dance

The play traces the final moments of native american freedom and self determination.  Drawing on genuine historical records for source material the drama follows the cold cynicism of the policy known as "Manifest Destiny"; as the indigenous people of North America lose first their land, then their identity and finally their hope with the destruction of an ideal.  The play explores Sioux Chief Sitting Bull's abortive trip to the Canadian province, the evolution of the Ghost Dance religion under the Paiute shamanic visionary Wovoka culminating in the slaughter at Wounded Knee.

Ralph explains what he means by the destruction of an ideal:

"Faith is by its very nature based around an ideal state.  In this case personified through the Ghost Dance religion; that dancing in Ghost Dance shirts would make the native American impervious to the white man's bullets, the dead would rise, the whites become defeated and the land returned to the Great Spirit.   The poor souls were ritually slaughterd and the ideal with them.  In this case on both a spiritual and practical level.  This of course finally reaches its conclusion for the whole of the native american race with the massacre at Wounded Knee."

   The piece lends itself to elements of Antonin Artaud's manifesto known as "The Theatre of Cruelty" taken from  "The Theatre and It's Double".   Insofar as Artuad wanted the audience to be made aware of the dangers of existence and placed in a position of vulnerability.  That is to say, make them powerless.  The subject matter also supports his philosophical view that dreams are no less real than actual events.

Malleus Maleficarum                                                 

   Matthew Hopkins (Public domain image)

Co-written with Ralph's wife Carole, the title is taken from the medieval tome; "The Hammer of the Witches"; (a fairly literal translation from the latin), an horrendous and heinous piece of work by Heinreich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger first published in 1486.   Sprenger and Kramer were Dominican Inquisitors for the Catholic Church and the work was their response to a papul bull  from Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 that has gone down in the annuls of history as the "witch-bull" It contains the most diabolical ideas for identifying anyone who crossed either the Catholic Church or any other powerful state for that matter.  It therefore provides the perfect title for a play about Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed "Witchfinder General" who tried innocent women, (and some men), for witchcraft in Colchester, Manningtree and Mistley during the time of Oliver Cromwell.  The son of a puritan clergyman, Hopkins studied law, that doubtless helped to give him a certain demeanour with which to carry out his ghastly interogations and was able to turn the backdrop of the Civil War period to his financial advantage.    Although the play centres on Essex, it is claimed that on one visit to Stowmarket he earned £20, a sum more than an average worker's yearly wage.   Though containing some distressing moments these form part of an unfolding linear narrative with strong character development.  This makes it a particularly suitable vehicle through which to explore the system of Constantin Stanislavski, the father of modern acting techniques such as "units and objectives", "the through-line-of-action" and the "super-objective."

Bertolt Brecht

The four in the generic title for the whole work refers not only to the seasons but to the actual number of plays.   Yet Ralph only wrote three; there is a simple explanation

"I was originally going to write a play in the style of Brecht but that was a rather pointless exercise given that he is unique amongst the four practitioners in that he is an established playwright.  Instead we chose a lehrstucke, or should I say a learning play "The Exception and The Rule"; and adopted his staging techniques.  He believed that you could use theatre to educate and make people aware of underlying social issues.  If you introduced empathy with the characters you would loose the detachment needed to make clear judgements.  His answer was what we know as "the alienation principle."  His productions still had the power to engage and entertain by breaking up the action with songs, projections interludes etc. He would have musicians walking on and off stage and set changes made in the full view of the audience. The plays themselves were often real hoots - one of my favourites is "The Resistible Rise of Arturi Ui"; It parodies the rise of Adolf Hitler through the title character who is a Chicago style gangster hell-bent on monopolising the grocery trade"

The Bridging Zone

"The Ghost Dance" and "Malleus Maleficarum" stand as plays in their own right. Both have been performed separately; "Malleus Maleficarum"  particularly has been expanded with additional songs and scenes and  when staged in its entirety can easily fill a traditional evening theatre slot.    "The Bridging Zone" is a rather different animal that does not lend itself easily to an interpretation away from the overall project.    Firstly it is used to pull the strands of the other dramas together. Secondly it is by far the strangest and most stylistic of all the dramas.   Under the guidance of Councillor Xantro and with technical assistance and poetry of Professor Poliodorus a number of masked guardians judge mankind but are themselves the puppets of a greater master.   Primarily they must decide whether time-travel should be used to re-visit and change history to the betterment of the grander scheme.    Thirdly it draws on other conventions:

"Throughout the whole piece I had used two Guides to provide comic links but by this play it becomes clear that they are the Earthbound emisaries sent to accumulate first hand knowledge of man's inhumanity to man."

Lastly it lays a foundation from which to experiment with some of the concepts of Edward Gordon Craig.

"Edward Gordon Craig was a true man of the theatre.  He was an actor, designer, producer and director.  At one point he worked with Stanislavski designing the set for the Moscow Arts production of Hamlet.  He had a whole series of ideas for lighting, staging and found him quite difficult to nail down.  In the end I took the essence of some ideas by creating a stylistic piece incorporating modern and classical images within an abstract environment that is outside time and space."

"The Four Seasons of Wounded Knee" was first performed under the direction of the author at Shenfield High School in Essex in November 1996

       The author speaking at the premiere

If you would like more information on all or any of these works or would like to stage them please advise us via any of the media available on the Contact and Information page

                                  Ralph Morse is a member of Artslink, Colchester