This is a masterful video of a remarkable one-character play written by Aldyth Morris and produced by Hawaii Public Television. The acting by Terrance Knapp is momorable.
Father Damien de Veuster, the Roman Catholic priest, came to the Hawaiian Islands in the late 1800's to work with the lepers confined on the island of Molokai. He died himself a leper after serving his beloved lepers for sixteen years. This award-winning play is a monologue delivered by Damien as a spirit telling the progressof his own funeral procession. As Damien comments on his last and final journey back to his homeland, he reminisces about his childhood, his ministry in the quarantined leper colony, and his faith in God and humanity.
Damien was first presented as a stage play at the University of Hawaiiin 1976. The Hawaii Public Television production was broadcast nationally on PBS in 1978 and again on "American Playhouse" in 1986. Nationally acclaimed, it won the following awards: George Peabody, Ohio State, Christopher awards for author and director, Corporation for Public Broadcasting Honorable Mention for Drama, and the National Association of Educational Braodcasters Award for Art Directing.
Featuring Terence Knapp as Damien.
JABSOM Library
