''The Stonemason'' is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

in five acts by American writer

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...

, written in the late 1980s and first performed in 1995. It concerns a Southern black family based on one McCarthy spent many months working with. The play is rarely produced.

Synopsis

This play focuses on the tribulations of the Telfair family over a three-year period. The story is told by monologues of the character Ben Telfair, a thirty-two-year-old third-generation stonemason. Two acts are taken up to provide back-story which involves Ben's choice not to continue college and to take up the family business of stonemasonry.

Bibliography

* Arnold, Edwin T. "Cormac McCarthy's ''The Stonemason'': The Unmaking of a Play." ''Southern Quarterly'' 33 (Winter-Spring 1995). * Josyph, Peter. "Older Professions: The Fourth Wall of ''The Stonemason''." Originally appeared, in different form, in ''Southern Quarterly'' 36 (Fall 1997). Reprinted in ''Myth, Legend, Dust: Critical Responses to Cormac McCarthy''. Edited by Rick Wallach. 119–140.

References

1995 plays Plays by Cormac McCarthy Plays set in Louisville, Kentucky {{1990s-play-stub