Cast: 16m., 10w. (6 children). Hawthorne's masterpiece of character under stress lends itself dramatically to a stage presentation—for we see the men smile knowingly at the scarlet letter on Hester's breast, and we hear the sneers of the holier-than-thou women as they gossip avidly about her secret! Hester has committed an inexcusable crime and has compounded it and confounded her prosecutors by refusing to name her partner in sin. The man who allows her to protect him suffers more from pangs of conscience than he would have from public humiliation. The dramatic climax shows us once again the timeless truth that compassion and understanding are forever more powerful than vengeance and cruelty. Unit set. Three acts. Approximate running time: 90 minutes.