Further Adventures of Zorro (Dramatic Reading)

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The Further Adventures of Zorro is the second novel Johnston McCulley wrote about Californian vigilante Zorro, the secret identity of Don Diego Vega. First published serially in Argosy All-Story Weekly between May and June 1922, this novel is the direct sequel to the 1919 novel The Curse of Capistrano. Although McCulley initially intended Zorro’s story to be complete in a single novel, the 1920 film adaptation The Mark of Zorro popularized the character sufficiently to convince McCulley to write another Zorro novel. Because McCulley wrote The Curse of Capistrano to be a stand-alone story, he concluded that story by having Don Diego publicly reveal his secret identity, which resulted in Zorro’s identity being public knowledge in The Further Adventures of Zorro. Consequently, Don Diego does not wear a mask in this novel, no longer needing to hide his identity. This fact makes The Further Adventures of Zorro unusual among Zorro stories, as subsequent installations in the series retconned away the public reveal to return Zorro to being a masked secret identity. With Zorro’s iconic mask not appearing in this novel, this story emphasizes the sword of Zorro as the primary marker of Don Diego’s vigilante identity. American film star Douglas Fairbanks, who both produced and starred in the first Zorro film, acquired the film rights to The Further Adventures of Zorro and subsequently made a second Zorro film called Don Q, Son of Zorro in 1925, but the plot of this film is primarily based on an unrelated novel by other authors. Although McCulley went on to write many more Zorro stories, it was nearly a decade after the serial publication of The Further Adventures of Zorro before another of McCulley’s Zorro stories appeared in print, the next being Zorro Rides Again in 1931. - Summary by Salvationist Character List Don Diego Vega: Tomas Peter Señorita Lolita Pulido: Michelle Purdy Captain Ramón: HelloCentral Barbados: tombooker Don Audre Ruiz: David Purdy Sanchez: Brian Fullen Sergeant Pedro Gonzales: Larry Wilson Fray Felipe: Phil Schempf Inez: ShrimpPhish Don Carlos Pulido: Mark Chulsky Doña Catalina Pulido: TriciaG Lieutenant: Scott Caulkins Thieving pirate: Stefan Von Blon Servant, Corporal, Workman, Lascivious pirate, Schooner captain: Epachuko Landlord, Main door trooper, Observant caballero: James R. Hedrick Inquisitive caballero, Imprudent pirate: Enrique Rendon Corridor trooper: Jon Hunter Fisherman: Elijah Fisher Man: Denis Gagné Narrator: Lynette Caulkins Edited by TriciaG Prooflistened by Gretta7 & James R. Hedrick