Over the course of a parent/teacher conference, a grieving mother and an emotionally overwhelmed primary school teacher have a fraught conversation about the tragic suicide of the mother's son, Gidion. Gidion may have been bullied severely—or he may have been an abuser. As his story is slowly uncovered, the women try to reconstruct a satisfying explanation for Gidion's act and come to terms with excruciating feelings of culpability.
Based at Shepherd University, in West Virginia, the Contemporary American Theater Festival is nationally and internationally recognized as a home for playwrights and the development and production of new plays. The Festival makes it a priority to celebrate and produce playwrights with strong, distinct voices, with a core value to tell diverse stories. This anthology of work provides plays that speak to one of the most compelling virtues of artists everywhere – freedom of speech. A necessary volume of women playwrights' work, ranging from a two-time Obie Award-winning author to emerging writers just beginning their careers, it represents a group of women who vary in age, race and sexual orientation and offers an invitation to artistic leaders, scholars and students to embrace gritty, thought-provoking new dramatic work. Edited by The Festival's Producing Directors Peggy McKowen and Ed Herendeen, this anthology features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage. Each of the five powerful plays is followed by an informative and discursive playwright interview conducted by Sharon J. Anderson that contextualizes and develops the works within the wider context of the annual festival. The plays include: Gidion's Knot by Johnna Adams The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess Memoirs of a Forgotten Man by D.W Gregory Dead and Breathing by Chisa Hutchinson 20th Century Blues by Susan Miller
THE STORY: Earning their bread with satires of white high society, the African Company came to be known for debunking the sacred status of the English classics (which many politically and racially motivated critics said were beyond the scope of bla
(Applause Books). In this anthology, theater expert Roger Ellis culls together dramatic scenes and monologues that all deal with spiritual experience. From various religious and non-religious perspectives, the book explores various aspects of spirituality religious faith, martyrdom, death and afterlife, fate and destiny, mercy, and romantic love. The material comes from contemporary plays by some of the most gifted playwrights Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, John Patrick Shanley, John Pielmeier, Tammy Ryan, Elie, Wiesel, Karen Sunde, and others. Perfect for high-school through college-age students, as well as for actors and general readers, this volume contains nearly 100 scenes, ranging from comic to serious, grouped in five categories: "Scenes for a Man and a Woman," "Scenes for Two Women," "Scenes for Two Men," "Monologues for Women," and "Monologues for Men." In addition to the monologues, Ellis includes notes on staging to help actors and directors bring these scenes to life. Some of the plays sourced for this anthology include The Crucible , Doubt , In the Shape of a Woman , Agnes of God , Epic Proportions , Our Lady of 121st Street , Angels in America , and Affection in Time .
During the Napoleonic wars, three extraneous Danish court officials—a professional loudmouth (the buttonholer), a kiss-ass for hire (the lickspittle), and a successful dastard (the go-between)—are tossed out of court just as Denmark’s merchant fleet becomes of strategic importance. The three men journey to France and meet Napoleon’s top lickspittle, buttonholer, and go-between—who are females?! Unnecessarily complex plots abound, flying machines are destroyed, and the head of Marie Antoinette is discovered during the madcap struggle to save Copenhagen from British howitzers. With an extraordinary use of rhyming alexandrine verse, plus cameos by sestina, haiku, free verse, limericks, and sonnets, LICKSPITTLES, BUTTONHOLERS AND DAMNED PERNICIOUS GO-BETWEENS is a farce for the ages, a delightful romp no matter your poetic preferences.
A young woman, disabled by a brutal attack, meets the mother of her college friend, who died several years earlier when the two students went to Columbia to protest the activities of a large oil corporation.
"The Great God Pan is a haunting, deeply affecting play about the interaction of identity, psychology and pathology. Ms. Herzog writes with keen sensitivity to the complex weave of feelings embedded in all human relationships, with particular attention to the way we tiptoe around areas of radioactive emotion." - New York Times "Whatever the ideal contemporary American drama is, it has to look a lot like The Great God Pan. It is provocative and subtle, slowly, carefully revelatory, sweetly moving, thought-provoking, funny and insightful." - New York Observer "An intelligent, delicately articulate writer." - Village Voice "A moving and unsettling look at the nature of identity and the vagaries of memory. With subtlety and compassion, Herzog contemplates how well we can really know ourselves." - Backstage Jamie's life in Brooklyn seems just fine: a beautiful girlfriend, a burgeoning journalism career, and parents who live just far enough away. But when a possible childhood trauma comes to light, lives are thrown into a tailspin. Unsettling and deeply compassionate, The Great God Pan tells the intimate tale of what is lost and won when a hidden truth is suddenly revealed. Amy Herzog's plays include 4000 Miles (Pulitzer Prize finalist), After the Revolution and Belleville. Ms. Herzog is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Whiting Writers' Award, an Obie Award and the Helen Merrill Award for Aspiring Playwrights.
Ageing Matthew Cuthbert suffers a heart attack during harvest, 1903, and his grim-visaged sister determines to adopt an orphanage boy to help with the farm work at Green Gables. By mistake, a girl arrives, red-haired, freckled and over-talkative. Her vivid imagination and entertaining flow of chatter endear her to Matthew, but sister Marilla is set on packing her back as soon as possible.13 women, 12 men
In this anthology, theater expert Roger Ellis culls together dramatic scenes and monologues that all deal with spiritual experience. From various religious and non-religious perspectives, the book explores various aspects of spirituality – religious faith, martyrdom, death and afterlife, fate and destiny, mercy, and romantic love. The material comes from contemporary plays by some of the most gifted playwrights – Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, John Patrick Shanley, John Pielmeier, Tammy Ryan, Elie, Wiesel, Karen Sunde, and others. Perfect for high-school through college-age students, as well as for actors and general readers, this volume contains nearly 100 scenes, ranging from comic to serious, grouped in five categories: “Scenes for a Man and a Woman ” “Scenes for Two Women ” “Scenes for Two Men ” “Monologues for Women ” and “Monologues for Men.” In addition to the monologues, Ellis includes notes on staging to help actors and directors bring these scenes to life. Some of the plays sourced for this anthology include The Crucible, Doubt, In the Shape of a Woman, Agnes of God, Epic Proportions, Our Lady of 121st Street, Angels in America, and Affection in Time.
