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A STONE’S THROW
• FABULATION • INTIMATE
APPAREL
• LAS MENINAS • MUD, RIVER,
STONE • POR’ KNOCKERS
• CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY • POOF!•
RUINED
A STONE’S THROW
Inspired by Antigone, A Stone’s Throw examines a romantic African
woman, who pays the ultimate price under Sharia law for allowing herself to
fall in love with a married man.
FABULATION, or THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE
Fabulation is a social satire about an ambitious and
haughty African-American woman, Undine Barnes-Calles, whose husband suddenly
disappears after embezzling all of her money. Pregnant and on the brink of
social and financial ruin, Undine retreats to her childhood home in Brooklyn’s
Walt Whitman projects, only to discover that she must cope with a crude new
reality. Undine faces the challenge of transforming her setbacks into small
victories in a battle to reaffirm her right to be. Fabulation is
a comeuppance tale with a comic twist.
“In tracing the collapsing fortunes of self-made twenty something Undine, Lynn Nottage toys with tragedy at its bleakest, yet never lets up in her comic assault on vanity, pretension and the foibles to which, yes, even members of the black community are prone.” –Daily Telegraph, London
INTIMATE APPAREL
In the early 1900s, a talented African-American designer creates intimate
apparel for New York Society Ladies and Prostitutes alike. Her life becomes
romantically intertwined with her clientele, challenging the sexual taboos
of the age.
“…thoughtful, affecting…The
play offers poignant commentary on an era when the cut and color of one’s
dress—and of course, skin—determined whom one could and could
not marry, sleep with, even talk to in public.”
–Variety
LAS MENINAS
The true story of the Seduction of Queen Marie Therese, and the consequences
of her affair with Nabo, an African Servant of diminutive stature. The play
is set in the court of Louis XIV.
“Lynn Nottage shines a revealing, fiercely imaginative beam on the French Court...By shedding light on this obscured, somewhat fanciful tale of an African in King Louis Court, Nottage reveals contemporary truths about the racial divide.” —San Jose Mercury
MUD, RIVER, STONE
An upper-middle class African American couple from New York embark on a trip
to Mother Africa on a quest to “find their roots.” Along the way,
a series of comic mishaps and a wrong turn on a muddy road lead to a frightening
and revealing vacation they won’t soon forget.
“Playwright Lynn Nottage pulls off a deft bait-and-switch with her new play: She seduces us into believing we’re settling into a sardonically funny vacation-from-hell travelogue, then brings in elements that are violent, disturbing, and deeply thought provoking.” –New York Newsday
POR’ KNOCKERS
In New York City, a group of idealistic political activists stage a bold act
of civil disobedience and must live with the devastating consequences.
“Claiming responsibility for their bold act of civil protest was supposed to be the easy part – all it would take would be a simple phone call. But none of the group of four African American activists and their Jewish ally, gathered in a safe house in Brooklyn, can pick up the receiver and own up to the deed…Nottage renders this odd collection of romantics, who over the course of the play discover how fragmented their dream has become, through archetypal characterizations that delineate the extremely varied personalities…in the movement.” –American Theatre
CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY
The battle for the heart and mind of 17-year-old Ernestine is waged in a living
room in Brooklyn in 1950. The contestants include the lively and glamorous
Aunt Lily, Ernestine’s God-fearing father and a mysterious German refugee.
As is Ernestine, the country is on the brink of transition. This coming of
age tale evokes the poetry of change.
“Ms. Nottage portrays the Crumps with wit, unaffected sweetness and the same infallible ear that helped make Intimate Apparel so memorable. Time and again her dialogue makes your mouth pop open with the twin shock of recognition and delight.” -Wall Street Journal
POOF!
A housewife copes with life a few moments after her abusive husband
spontaneously combusts, leaving a pile of ash on the kitchen floor.
"Poof! is a very funny 10 minutes
with some very serious overtones. Nottage poses an interesting question to
the audience if you really get what you wish for, are you ready to deal with
the consequences?"
-The Birmingham News
RUINED
Set in a small mining town in Democratic Republic of Congo, this powerful
play follows Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman in a land torn apart by civil
war. But is she protecting or profiting by the women she shelters? How far
will she go to survive? Can a price be placed on human life?
"A remarkable theatrical
accomplishment! Dazzling! Lynn Nottage's gripping, gut-wrenching new play
RUINED is sincere, passionate, courageous and acutely argued...This is both
a celebration of the endurance and vitality of African women and unstinting
call for us to keep them safer."
-The Chicago tribune
