Handful of Fire

Play in three acts by N. Richard Nash

A simple Mexican girl idealizes virginity but surrenders her own, in a moment of loneliness, to the proprietor of a card parlor and brothel in a border town. In turn, an ingenuous peasant boy idealizes her, until he learns she is not precisely what he had thought. This revelation sends him into an emotional turmoil and drives the girl into prostitution. In the concluding scene, she apparently is redeemed through the efforts of the peasant.


Performances

National Theatre Washington DC Sept. 1 to 13, 1958
Locust Theatre Philadelphia, PA Sept. 15 to 17, 1958
Martin Beck Theatre
Broadway
New York, NY Oct. 1 to 4, 1958 (5 performances)



Cast (In Order of Appearance)

Mariachis ..... Jesus de Jerez, Tomas E. Infante,
                                    Alex Hassilev
Rodolfo ........................... Robert Nieves
Bullfighter ....................... Neil Laurence
Tamale Vendor .................... Jorge Gonzales
Padre ............................... Angel Rigau
Tourist Wife ........................ Jeanne Barr
Tourist Husband .................... Jake Sitters
A Woman ....................... Scottie MacGregor
Rodolfo's Mother .................. Thelma Pelish
Pepe ............................. Roddy McDowall
Alonso .......................... Leonardo Cimino
Matias ............................... Louis Guss
Ruben .......................... William Edmonson
Policemen ............ Irving Winter, Dario Barri
Manuel ............................... James Daly
Vargas ............................... Gene Gross
Sylvi ............................... Kay Medford
Maria ............................. Joan Copeland
Carmelita ........................ Myriam Acevedo
Young Man ........................... Mark Rydell


Broadway Production

Directed by Robert Lewis
Settings and lighting by Jo Mielziner
Costumes by Lucinda Ballard
Production stage manager: Jose Vega
Playbill for Handful of Fire Scene from Handful of Fire Roddy McDowall in Handful of Fire Roddy McDowall in Handful of Fire

As the young hero, Roddy McDowall gave a bravura performance.
— Theatre Arts
(December 1958)




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