A collection of four plays by new American writers curated from the
Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater, New York. These plays
represent the finest works developed by the Public Theater, addressing
contemporary social preoccupations: race, class, heritage, economic
hardship, family values and identity.
The plays included are: Perish by Stella Fawn Ragsdale: when Porter's
father kidnaps her son, she must go back to the woods of East Tennessee
to find him, where she is distracted by a mysterious firebird. Textured
with poetry and grit, this play follows the plight of women in
Appalachia and the disappearance of the working class.
The Hour of Feeling by Mona Mansour: in 1967, fuelled by a love of
English Romantic poetry, a young Palestinian academic, Adham, and his
new wife, Abir, take a trip to London, where he will deliver a career
defining lecture. While the situation in his home country deteriorates
and his marriage threatens to dissolve, Adham confronts his fear of
failure and the reality that he may be an outsider no matter where he
goes.
Bethany by Laura Marks: when the going gets tough, the tough get
going, and the going has gotten very tough indeed for Crystal. Her job
is in jeopardy, her house has been repossessed and her daughter taken by
social services. It's time for Crystal to get going. But in her effort
to get her daughter back and put her life on the right track, Crystal is
forced to question just how far she's willing to go to survive.
Neighbors by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins: Black face, not on my doorstep,
not today. Richard Patterson is not happy. The family of black actors
that has moved in next door is rowdy, tacky, shameless, and uncouth. And
they are not just invading his neighborhood-they're infiltrating his
family, his sanity, and his entirely post-racial lifestyle. This wildly
theatrical, explosive play on race is an unconventional comedy which
uses minstrelsy both to explore the history of black theater and to
confront tensions in 'post-racial' America.
