ISBN #1-60513-041-9
#2009-0011

The Cast

• BARUCH (BENTO) SPINOZA: Mid-20s. A Spanish Jew born in Amsterdam, Holland. Spinoza is erudite with a sense of humor and a strong awareness of justice. He can be both naive and sophisticated.

• GABRIEL DE SPINOZA: Bento’s younger brother. Although practical, he admires his brother.

• REBEKAH DE CACERES: In her late 30s, but looks older. Hard lines etch her face. A woman who barely hides her bitterness toward Bento for perceived injustices. Married to Samuel de Caceres whom she views as weak and ineffectual.

• DAVID OSORIO: Middle-aged wealthy merchant. His life is determined by his experiences before he escaped the Inquisition in Spain and he is determined not to lose all he has gained.

• DIRCK KERKERINCK: One of Bento’s best friends and in love with Clara Van Den Enden. The son of a Dutch banker, he joined Bento’s circle against his father’s wishes. Dirck wears peasant clothes, but has the noblesse oblige of the wealthy.

• CLARA VAN DEN ENDEN: An attractive 18-year-old Dutch woman. Liberated, enlightened, intelligent daughter of Bento’s Latin teacher.

• ABRAHAM PEREIRA: Middle-aged wealthy merchant whose family came from Spain. Devout and always worried that the Inquisition will spill into Holland.

• RABBI ISAAC DA FONSECA: 60s/70s. The wise leader of the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish community. He sees his role as protecting his community from destruction by outside forces.

• SAMUEL DE CACERES: Rebekah’s powerless and emasculated husband. In the end, he will do exactly as she tells him.

• RABBI SAUL LEVI MORTEIRA: 60s. Bento’s former teacher. A sage who sees what the future may hold for Bento and the community.

Synopsis

Inspired by a true story.

In Amsterdam, Holland, 25 year-old Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza battles against the injustice of a so-called republican government that uses fear to destroy civil liberties. His brash speeches and writing raise the fearful specter in his community of the possibility of a new Inquisition. Spinoza’s angry and jealous sister, Rebekah, eager to inherit their father’s business, uses her brother’s passion for social justice and charges him with heresy. The leaders of the community, anxious to avoid the stigma of disloyalty to the state, latch on to her accusation as a tool for ridding themselves of the young troublemaker. Spinoza falls in love with Clara van den Ende, an outspoken, liberated woman who attempts to turn him away from his dogged determination. Failing that, she abandons him to the wrath of his people who wage a devastating battle against Spinoza. His teacher, Saul Levi Morteira, begs him to recant. When the young man refuses, Morteira becomes his chief inquisitor at a trial that will eventually affect society, politics, religion and science.

The Setting

1654-1656. The Jewish district of Amsterdam, Holland. The Despinosa Merchant Shop and the Reading Room of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue. Production Note: Suggest that the two sets are on stage simultaneously for action to flow from one to the other seamlessly.

About the Playwright

Michael Halperin was Story Editor for Universal Television and Executive Story Consultant at 20th Century-Fox and wrote television episodes for long-running, popular TV series. Halperin co-wrote the best-selling award-winning novel for children Jacob’s Rescue: A Holocaust Story (Random House) and wrote Black Wheels (San Val) chosen by the National Education Association as one of the best books of 2005-2009. His comedy, Freedom, Texas debuted in Los Angeles with the Celebrity Staged Reading Series, 2009. All Steps Necessary was commissioned and premiered by Inkwell Theater April 2006 in Los Angeles. The Chapman Group Rep. Theatre, North Hollywood, California performed a staged reading of his drama with music Dancing With William Blake in 2006. His one-character play, Mela, was performed in August 2004 in Jerusalem in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Yad Vashem. Halperin wrote and directed his play The Spark of Reason at the Promenade Playhouse, Santa Monica, California, 2008. His one-act plays Freud at Sinai and Poor Timing have been produced on both the east and west coasts. Visit him online at www.michaelhalperin.com.