Mozart Was a Red
Encyclopedia
Mozart Was a Red was an unpublished one act play
written in the 1960s by libertarian
economist
Murray Rothbard
. The morality play
was written as a farce
, inspired by the author's meetings with Ayn Rand
. Based on Rothbard's allegation that the expectation by Rand's circle was that she and her Objectivist
leanings were to be considered absolute, the play parodied Rand (through the character "Carson Sand") and her friends during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Rand's most famous novel, Atlas Shrugged
).
The play was never officially published, although it was passed around various libertarian circles and on the internet following its original writing. It was performed for Rothbard's 60th birthday celebration at the Ludwig von Mises Institute
in 1986, and occasional performances still occur.
One act play
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. In recent years the 10-minute play known as "flash drama" has emerged as a popular sub-genre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions...
written in the 1960s by libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
. The morality play
Morality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
was written as a farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
, inspired by the author's meetings with Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
. Based on Rothbard's allegation that the expectation by Rand's circle was that she and her Objectivist
Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand . Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception...
leanings were to be considered absolute, the play parodied Rand (through the character "Carson Sand") and her friends during a visit from Keith Hackley, a fan of Sand's novel The Brow of Zeus (a play on Rand's most famous novel, Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing...
).
The play was never officially published, although it was passed around various libertarian circles and on the internet following its original writing. It was performed for Rothbard's 60th birthday celebration at the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute
The Ludwig von Mises Institute , based in Auburn, Alabama, is a libertarian academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. Its scholarship is inspired by the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises...
in 1986, and occasional performances still occur.
External links
- Mozart Was a Red: A Morality Play in One Act by Murray N. Rothbard, with an introduction by Justin RaimondoJustin RaimondoJustin Raimondo is an American author and the editorial director of the website Antiwar.com. He describes himself as a "conservative-paleo-libertarian."-Background:...
. - Brian DohertyBrian Doherty (journalist)Brian Doherty is an American journalist. He is a Senior Editor at Reason magazine. He is the author of This Is Burning Man: The Rise of a New American Underground , Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement and Gun Control on Trial: Inside the...
, Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement. 2007, PublicAffairs. (ISBN 978-1586483500) - Chris Matthew SciabarraChris Matthew SciabarraChris Matthew Sciabarra is a Brooklyn, New York-based political theorist. He is the author of three scholarly books—Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical; Marx, Hayek, and Utopia; and Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism—as well several shorter works...
, Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism. 2000, Penn State Press. (ISBN 0271020490) - Mozart Was a Red", at Google Videos.