About the Play
LUMINARIUM is a stage play written by American playwright Scot Lahaie.
The Setting: The Palace of King Drtad at Vagharshapat in Ancient Armenia.
The Time: 284-297 AD.
Summary: LUMINARIUM is a dramatic retelling of the conversion of King Drtad, the first of the Armenian kings to embrace the Christian faith. The action of the play is set in 284 AD in the Palace of King Drtad where Gregory has laid aside his noble pedigree to become a servant in the house of the King. The conflict rises when the King calls upon Gregory to make sacrifice to the goddess Anahid. Gregory declines the offer, which kindles the King’s anger and lands him in the King’s dungeon. Gregory endures torture with grace and patience, believing that his suffering will lead to the King’s conversion. When the King discovers Gregory’s ancestry—he is the son of the assassin that killed the King’s father—he rejects Gregory’s faith claims and sentences him to die in the dungeon without food or water, releasing a curse upon the kingdom and hastening the play’s tumultuous conclusion—the King’s conversion and Gregory’s miraculous survival.
The Cast of Characters:
GREGOR, son of Anak, servant in the house of the King
DRTAD, King of Armenia, son of Khorsov
SARTAN, Chief Counsel to the King
TOOKI, the King’s Sister
NORA, a slave in the house of the King
SANISAR, Advisor to the King
MAYGAR, Advisor to the King
DIRADOUR, Advisor to the King
TOMAS, the Manager of the King’s House
THE ROYAL HERDSMAN
THE ROYAL GARDENER
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
THE JAILER
A YOUTH
AN OLD MAN
SOLDIER ONE
SOLDIER TWO
SOLDIER THREE
SOLDIER FOUR
ANGEL ONE
ANGEL TWO
ANGEL THREE
ANGEL FOUR
The Setting: The Palace of King Drtad at Vagharshapat in Ancient Armenia.
The Time: 284-297 AD.
Summary: LUMINARIUM is a dramatic retelling of the conversion of King Drtad, the first of the Armenian kings to embrace the Christian faith. The action of the play is set in 284 AD in the Palace of King Drtad where Gregory has laid aside his noble pedigree to become a servant in the house of the King. The conflict rises when the King calls upon Gregory to make sacrifice to the goddess Anahid. Gregory declines the offer, which kindles the King’s anger and lands him in the King’s dungeon. Gregory endures torture with grace and patience, believing that his suffering will lead to the King’s conversion. When the King discovers Gregory’s ancestry—he is the son of the assassin that killed the King’s father—he rejects Gregory’s faith claims and sentences him to die in the dungeon without food or water, releasing a curse upon the kingdom and hastening the play’s tumultuous conclusion—the King’s conversion and Gregory’s miraculous survival.
The Cast of Characters:
GREGOR, son of Anak, servant in the house of the King
DRTAD, King of Armenia, son of Khorsov
SARTAN, Chief Counsel to the King
TOOKI, the King’s Sister
NORA, a slave in the house of the King
SANISAR, Advisor to the King
MAYGAR, Advisor to the King
DIRADOUR, Advisor to the King
TOMAS, the Manager of the King’s House
THE ROYAL HERDSMAN
THE ROYAL GARDENER
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
THE JAILER
A YOUTH
AN OLD MAN
SOLDIER ONE
SOLDIER TWO
SOLDIER THREE
SOLDIER FOUR
ANGEL ONE
ANGEL TWO
ANGEL THREE
ANGEL FOUR