Exchange of Prisoners

This five-act play opens as 21-year-old Adolf Thuring arrives home on his five-day furlough following injury on the front lines during World War I. His mother Annaliese greets him warmly, but dreads his inevitable return to the war. Renate, Adolf’s 20-year-old look-alike sister, craves to escape the restrictions normally placed on women and serve the German military machine, and immediately tries to draw Adolf into her struggle against their mother’s more traditional beliefs. When, on the first night of Adolf’s furlough, Renate discovers that Adolf secretly craves to take on the more feminine identity that she herself despises, they team up to convince each other and Annaliese that they should trade places. The remainder of the play takes place over the course of Adolf’s five-day furlough.

Adolf and Renate attempt to convince Annaliese to approve their idea in a straightforward manner, but her shock and disgust soon motivates them to prove to her that Adolf could be a convincing young woman, and that Renate could be a competent and convincing soldier. They engage in costuming and role-playing exercises, and Adolf turns Renate’s bedroom into a battle zone, drilling her in a variety of war scenarios. In between training sessions, Adolf and Renate try ever more desperate arguments to convince Annaliese of the correctness of their plan, but after much struggle, her only change of heart is toward pacifism. Throughout the play, an anonymous, non-speaking graffiti artist haunts them by periodically scrawling graffiti sayings on the external walls next to the Thuring home.

Annaliese’s doubts and fears about Renate’s war-hunger rub off on Adolf, and toward the end of the play, he comes to mistrust his own enthusiasm for their initial plan. But Renate remains steadfast, and Annaliese’s pacifism leads her to be unable to send either child back to the war. She can only stand back and let them decide on their own futures.

Play Structure:	5 Acts: Act I, 4 scenes; Act II, 4 scenes; Act III, 5 scenes; Act IV, 2 scenes; Act V, 4 scenes
Cast size:	4
Gender:	2 female, 1 male 1 open gender (non-speaking)
Period:	June, 1917 (World War I)
Location:	Interior of the Thuring home.
Set:	Rooms include the kitchen/dining area, Renate’s bedroom, and Adolf’s bedroom.
Technical:	Stark lighting and special effects should accompany the surreal military training sessions.

Production History

Exchange of Prisoners received its premiere production by White Cat Productions at the Odd Duck Studio in Seattle, Washington, on September 17 – 26, 2004. The play was directed by Lauren E. Appel, and was performed by the following cast and crew:

Annaliese	Therese Henning
Renate	Karen Milling
Adolf	Eric Inman
Graffiti Artist	Craig Anders
Costumes/Props	Jeannine Clarke
Costumes/Props	Corrine Davis
Set Designer	Jason Simms
Lighting Designer	Steven Studer
Sound Operator	Ann Marie Caldwell
Stage Manager	Ann Marie Caldwell
Set Construction	Katie Boyd Kristina Lockard Reed Nakayama Peter Sawicki
Set Painting	Dawn Cline Jeffrey Netz
Dialect Coach	Dana Boggs
House Manager	Katie Boyd