Trog and Clay
(An Imagined History of the Electric Chair)
In the 1880’s Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse were in the middle of the War of Currents as Westinghouse’s Alternating Current became a serious rival to Edison’s Direct Current. At the same time, electricity was being considered as a more humane alternative to hanging after being proposed by Dr. Southwick who saw a drunk man fall onto a live generator and die instantly. Neither Edison nor Westinghouse wanted their electrical system used for executions and therefore associated with death. Edison began to publicly kill dogs and other animals with AC current, giving a quarter to neighborhood children for each stray dog they brought him, to show that AC was dangerous and better for executions. In 1890, William Kemmler became the first person electrocuted after murdering his wife. It took over eight minutes and Westinghouse later said, “They would have done better using an axe.”
In Trog and Clay, Westinghouse is trying to hold onto his scheming wife, Margueritte, who wants to be an actress, Thomas Edison is using her to get a man electrocuted by A/C current, William Kemmler is a hopeless romantic wife-killer, and Trog and Clay are two foolish dog-catching hobos at the center of it all. Based on actual events, court transcripts and a little imagination.
~Trog and Clay received its first professional reading as part of PlayFest - The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays - at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.
First Produced: Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble, 2010
Winner: Gloria Peter Playwriting Award for Histroical Plays
4m / 2w