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| The Cover of The Samaritan by John Lara |
Understanding the title of The Samaritan
The title, The Samaritan, is adapted from the parable of Jesus Christ in Luke 10:25-37 about the Good Samaritan. In the parable, robbers attack a Jewish man, beat him up, rob him and leave him for dead by the roadside. A priest comes by the injured man, sees him lying by the roadside, and although a religious man, passes by without helping him. Then comes a Levite, a religious man (Levites worked as assistants to the priests) but, too, does not help the man. Eventually comes a Samaritan. Although holding a different view of religion, and despite the hostility between Jews and Samaritans, he treats the man with compassion, dresses his wounds and takes him to a safe place. The injured man's help comes from the most unlikely point.
The happenings in the parable are relevant to those in the play, The Samaritan. In the words of Nicole, the people of Maracas Municipality are like the injured Jewish man in many ways. They are beaten, stripped, robbed and left for dead. And the people they would expect to help them, their leaders and their public officials, cannot come to their help. They are like the priest and the Levite. The Municipal leaders, led by His Worship Mayor Mossi and his Deputy, Hon. Ramdaye, are massively corrupt, misuse their public offices and are violent (some run criminal gangs). And although they talk about pursuing public interest, they actually pursue their selfish personal interest.
Like the Good Samaritan who comes to the rescue of the Jewish man, The Samaritan, the mobile App developed by Alvita and Montano, both students of Sagrada Secondary School come to the rescue of the people of Maracas Municipality. Information shared on the App from the public helps to expose the massive corruption and rot in the Municipal Council. Eventually, the national government steps in and the law, in the end, catches up with the corrupt Municipal Council leaders. Their arrest - the adversaries of progress - marks a new aurora for Maracas Municipality.
← Act1 Scene 1 ← Act1 Scene 2 ← Act1 Scene 3 ← Act2 Scene 1 ← Act2 Scene 2 ← Act2 Scene 3 ← Act3 Scene 1 ← Act3 Scene 2 ← Act3 Scene 3 ← Act4 Scene 1 ← Act4 Scene 2 ← Act4 Scene 3