THE STORY: THE OWL KILLER. Conditioned by a lifetime of resigned acceptance, Noah Hamilton can only turn against his renegade son, Lamar, who has killed and mutilated a man and is now in hiding. A petty tyrant, who compensates for his own frustrations, Noah rules his family by fear, turning a deaf ear to the pleas of his wife, Emma, and of his daughter, Stella Mae, whom he banished from his home because of her adulterous behavior. Determined to destroy all vestiges of his son’s presence, Noah destroys the stuffed owls that Lamar has collected—a symbolic act which also seeks to obliterate the deep-seated guilt he feels over his long-held dislike for his wife and children. Yet penance, as the shattering climax of the play makes powerfully clear, is inevitable, with the ultimate sacrifice demanded to redeem a soul scarred by so many years of compromise and battered pride.
Included in the collection
Moloch Blues.
