Act 1, A Prison Wall Summary

Mountain Language is a brief four-act play which starkly presents the inhumane treatment and depersonalization of those imprisoned by the state in a remote mountain area in Europe.

There is no set direction provided so the reader assumes an austere environment for all acts of the play. As the first act opens, a young woman and an elderly woman are standing outside a prison wall. The younger woman has an arm around the elderly woman who is cradling a bitten hand.

A sergeant abruptly asks the young woman her name to which she replies more than once that they have already given their names. Finally the sergeant tires of this word game and tells the young woman to "stop this shit."

The sergeant asks the young woman if she has any complaints and the young woman informs...