Two Rooms - Acting Edition
Lee Blessing - 1990
"The two rooms of the title are a windowless cubicle in Beirut where an American hostage is being held by Arab terrorists and a room in his home in the United States which his wife has stripped of furniture so that, at least symbolically, she can share his ordeal."Two Rooms received its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in California on June 21, 1988. The cast is two men and two women.
A Girl Is a Body of Water
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi - 2020
Complicating these feelings of abandonment, as Kirabo comes of age she feels the emergence of a mysterious second self, a headstrong and confusing force inside her at odds with her sweet and obedient nature.Seeking answers, Kirabo begins spending afternoons with Nsuuta, a local witch, trading stories and learning not only about this force inside her, but about the woman who birthed her, who she learns is alive but not ready to meet. Nsuuta also explains that Kirabo has a streak of the “first woman”—an independent, original state that has been all but lost to women.Kirabo’s journey to reconcile her rebellious origins, alongside her desire to reconnect with her mother and to honor her family’s expectations, is rich in the folklore of Uganda and an arresting exploration of what it means to be a modern girl in a world that seems determined to silence women. Makumbi’s unforgettable novel is a sweeping testament to the true and lasting connections between history, tradition, family, friends, and the promise of a different future.
Feeding the Dragon
Sharon Washington - 2018
The one-act play invites listeners into Sharon's unorthodox childhood, growing up in an apartment on the top floor of the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library, where her father served as the building's custodian. A love of literature and boundless imagination helped the playwright as a young woman persevere over dragons of all forms.Directed by Maria Mileaf, Feeding the Dragon premiered at City Theatre in Pittsburgh and was subsequently produced by Hartford Stage and Primary Stages.©2018 Sharon Washington (P)2018 AO Media, LLC.
Call Us What We Carry
Amanda Gorman - 2021
Call Us What We Carry is Gorman at her finest. Including “The Hill We Climb,” the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, and bursting with musical language and exploring themes of identity, grief, and memory, this lyric of hope and healing captures an important moment in our country’s consciousness while being utterly timeless.The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman.
The Lion in Winter
James Goldman - 1966
In James Goldman’s classic play The Lion in Winter, domestic turmoil rises to an art form. Keenly self-aware and motivated as much by spite as by any sense of duty, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine maneuver against each other to position their favorite son in line for succession. By imagining the inner lives of Henry, Eleanor, and their sons, John, Geoffrey, and Richard, Goldman created the quintessential drama of family strife and competing ambitions, a work that gives visceral, modern-day relevance to the intrigues of Angevin England. Combining keen historical and psychological insight with delicious, mordant wit, the stage play has become a touchstone of today’s theater scene, and Goldman’s screenplay for the 1968 film adaptation won him an Academy Award. Told in “marvelously articulate language, with humor that bristles and burns” (Los Angeles Times), The Lion in Winter is the rare play that bursts into life on the printed page.
The Children
Lucy Kirkwood - 2016
They like to live by the sea.Two retired nuclear scientists in an isolated cottage by the sea as the world around them crumbles. Then an old friend arrives with a frightening request.Lucy Kirkwood's previous plays include Chimerica (winner of the Olivier Award for Best Play, the Evening Standard Award, the Critics' Circle Best New Play Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), small hours, NSFW, and it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now. The Children premiered at the Royal Court, London, in November 2016 and will receive its US premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club in the fall of 2017.
American Moor
Keith Hamilton Cobb - 2020
not necessarily in that order.Keith Hamilton Cobb embarks on a poetic exploration that examines the experience and perspective of black men in America through the metaphor of Shakespeare's character Othello, offering up a host of insights that are by turns introspective and indicting, difficult and deeply moving. American Moor is a play about race in America, but it is also a play about who gets to make art, who gets to play Shakespeare, about whose lives and perspectives matter, about actors and acting, and about the nature of unadulterated love.American Moor has been seen across America, including a successful run off-Broadway in 2019. This edition features an introduction by Professor Kim F. Hall, Barnard College.
Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom
Jennifer Haley - 2009
The game setting? A subdivision with identical houses. The goal? Smash through an army of zombies to escape the neighborhood for good. But as the line blurs between virtual and reality, both parents and players realize that fear has a life of its own. "Playing like a nifty episode of 'The Twilight Zone', the story builds to an affectingly grues
Pipeline
Dominique Morisseau - 2017
. . this passionate play about a family struggling to outrun social prophecy is potent and intensely acted." --The New York Times"Pipeline showcases an American play wright in full blaze." --Huffington Post"This is a writer who has a flawless ear for the way kids see the world and their ability to navigate it with surgical eloquence." --DeadlineNya, an inner-city teacher, is desperate to give her only son, Omari, opportunities he'd otherwise never have in the flawed public education system. When an incident at his private school threatens to get him expelled, Nya must con- front the full weight of the impact her parenting decisions have made on her son. Inspired by the "school-to-prison" pipeline that ensnares people of color, Morisseau brings us a powerful play that delves into issues of class, race, parenting, and education in America and questions the systematic structures that ultimately trap underserved communities.Dominique Morisseau's plays include Detroit '67, Paradise Blue, Skeleton Crew, Sunset Baby, Follow Me to Nellie's, Third Grade, Black at Michigan, Socks, Roses Are Played Out, and Love and Nappiness. Morisseau is a recipient of the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, two NAACP Image Awards, a commendation from the Primus Prize by the American Theatre Critics Association, and the winner of the 2012 Barrie and Bernice Stavis Play wright Award by National Theatre Conference.
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Other Plays: The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Psycho Beach Party, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset
Charles Busch - 2000
Of his latest play, The New York Times has written, "Uproarious ... wall-to-wall laughs ... Mr. Busch has swum straight into the mainstream and stays comfortably afloat there." Busch is the author of such plays as Vampire Lesbians of Sodom -- one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history -- and Psycho Beach Party, a cross between Gidget and Spellbound. After a successful Off-Broadway run at New York City's Manhattan Theater Club, Busch moves to Broadway with The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, a hilarious comedy about a self-absorbed Upper West Side doctor's wife whose life is devoted to mornings at the Whitney, afternoons at the Museum of Modern Art, and evenings at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Her world is shaken and transformed when a childhood friend makes an unexpected visit.
Proof
David Auburn - 2000
His death has brought into her midst both her sister, Claire, who wants to take Catherine back to New York with her, and Hal, a former student of Catherine's father who hopes to find some hint of Robert's genius among his incoherent scribblings. The passion that Hal feels for math both moves and angers Catherine, who, in her exhaustion, is torn between missing her father and resenting the great sacrifices she made for him. For Catherine has inherited at least a part of her father's brilliance -- and perhaps some of his instability as well. As she and Hal become attracted to each other, they push at the edges of each other's knowledge, considering not only the unpredictability of genius but also the human instinct toward love and trust.
Cost of Living
Martyna Majok - 2018
John, a brilliant and witty doctoral student, hires overworked Jess as a caregiver. As their lives intersect, Majok's play delves into the chasm between abundance and need and explores the space where bodies--abled and disabled--meet each other.(Dramatists Play Service)
A Taste of Honey
Shelagh Delaney - 1956
Jo's greatest fear is that her illegitimate baby might be mentally deficient like her own father. To soothe, clean and cook for her is Geof, an effeminate art student, with whom she makes a temporary home. Bruised by insensitivity and rejection, the boy and girl find a very real comfort in each other.
China Men
Maxine Hong Kingston - 1980
Here's a storyteller's tale of what they endured in a strange new land.