Christopher Fry's "Firstborn" is a verse play on the story of Exodus. He pictures Moses' choice between Egyptian princehood or freedom for the Hebrews as a choice between desire and wisdom. Moses feels compelled to obey the command of his conscience, but finds little happiness in doing so. The play was written in 1946, and the oppression of the Hebrews in Egypt serves as a vehicle for examining the injustice for the Jews of Fry's day.

I have just recently begun reading Christopher Fry's dramatic works and was stunned! He is a peerless dramatist, writing with subtle irony and wit and quick humor. "A Phoenix Too Frequent" deals with a Corinthian woman, Dynamene, who intends to die at the tomb of her husband, Virilius, until she is interrupted by a soldier, Tegeus. The play is quite good and I highly recommend it, although the end came as a disappointment.

Okay, most of you out there in Amazon.com-land will never read this, because this is an obscure play by an obscure author. Those of you who delve this far into the Amazon catacombs will already be familiar with the better-known works of Christopher Fry ("The Lady's Not For Burning", "A Phoenix Too Frequent"). "The Sleep Of Prisoners" is a little gem of a play, wonderfully written, combining the worlds of 20th Century warfare and stories from the Old Testament. It was written to be performed in a church, but I've seen it work wonderfully in a theatre-setting. It's a treat. Get hold of a copy if you can.