by Tracey Scott Wilson
directed by Liesl Tommy
October 22, 2007 at 8:30 p.m.
Kreeger Theater, Arena Stage
The Good Negro, by the nationally known African-American playwright Tracey Scott Wilson, takes us into the heart of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement in Alabama where a trio of emerging Black leaders must conquer their individual demons, the local Ku Klux Klan fights for its old way of life, and everyday Black men and women must overcome their fears, all under the watchful eye of the FBI.
by Steve Spotswood
directed by Anita Maynard-Losh
November 5, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
Kreeger Theater, Arena Stage
Steve Spotswood, a graduate student at Catholic University, recently won the Paula Vogel Playwriting Prize. In this play, with echoes of the Kennewick controversy, a puzzling scientific find - the discovery of prehistoric human remains- brings Eve, a forensic anthropologist, back to the hometown she thought she’d left behind forever. Now her past and present collide as she is forced to confront the remnants of an abusive adolescence and an old love, all while trying to discover the true identity of the Aaronsville Woman.
by Daniel Beaty
directed by Charles Randolph Wright
December 3, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
Kreeger Theater, Arena Stage
Resurrection is the story of six interconnected black males, ages 10-60: a child scientist, a young man from the projects on his way to college, an ex-convict, a corporate executive, a health food store owner, and the Bishop of a mega-church — who all experience an unexpected phenomenon on the same evening that changes their lives forever. Beaty is well-known for his virtuosic one person play Emergence-See! which played at Arena Stage in the summer of 2007.
by Dorothy Fortenberry
directed by David Dower
January 28, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Crystal City
Fortenberry is an M.F.A. student at the Yale School of Drama. In Good Egg, responsible Meg has always taken care of her bipolar younger brother Matt. But when she decides to get pregnant — and have her embryos pre-screened for bipolar disorder — is she taking the idea of “being responsible” too far? Fortenberry’s play explores the complex world of bioethics, siblings and the limits of unconditional love.
a commission by Marcus Gardley
directed by Molly Smith
February 4, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Crystal City
Based on the lyrics of an old Negro spiritual, Gardley’s play interweaves the Biblical tale of the Hebrew captives and the fiery furnace with the story of a Black congregation attempting to rebuild their church after it is burned in a community overwhelmed by fear and racial tension.
by Alex Lewin
directed by Gregg Henry
March 24, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Crystal City
Lewin is a graduate student at the University of California at San Diego. In his play, an American archaeologist teams up with an Arab activist to unearth the “Mother of Books,” the oldest scripture, from its resting place in the desert between Mecca and Medina. But their controversial mission affects a number of other characters, including a secretly gay Arab radical, a British spy and the ghost of a precocious 13-year-old boy.
Tickets are $8 plus fees.
