Plays About Uncomfortable Truths by Zackary Ross
P
lays often reveal characters coming to terms with themselves in profound ways. As a result of circumstance, they become aware of a previously unknown or unspoken truth about their nature and their relationships to others. The Greeks spoke of these as moments of
recognition and believed them central to the very nature of drama. What follows is a collection of newly-published plays from major play publishers that feature characters grappling with uncomfortable truths about themselves or their community. Following each description, you’ll find information about the cast breakdown and a referral to the publisher who holds the rights. Human Rites, by Seth Rozin
in life can sometimes be painful and confus-
an invitation to the school’s upcoming
After reading a controversial paper on
ing, our mere act of existence has meaning
Sadie Hawkins dance, a springboard to
female circumcision practices to his
in and of itself.
his rise to the top. This poignant, funny
undergraduate class, Alan Friedman is
Cast breakdown: 3 females; 2 males
and thoroughly engrossing play offers a
summoned to Dean Michaela Richards’
Publisher: Samuel French
brilliantly nuanced and complex study of
office to discuss his students’ objections.
www.samuelfrench.com
disability on stage.
Complicated by their romantic history
Cast breakdown: 4 females; 2 males* (*re-
years earlier and the racial differences
Amy and the Orphans,
quires one actor with cerebral palsy and
that exist between them, the conversation
by Lindsey Ferrentino
one wheelchair user)
quickly becomes heated and the two trade
When adult siblings Maggie and Jake
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
assertions of white privilege and Western
must tell their sister Amy, who has Down
www.dramatists.com
superiority. When Dean Richards brings
syndrome, about their father’s death, they
in a third party – an African graduate
unwittingly discover that they know very
A Good Farmer, by Sharyn Rothstein
student familiar with the people studied
little about their parents’ decision to place
Bonnie is a widow struggling to keep her
in Dr. Friedman’s paper – to contradict his
Amy in a state home for most of her life.
small cabbage farm operating with the
findings, tensions boil over and the ground
Touching, deeply funny and, at times,
help of her best friend, Carla, an undocu-
shifts dramatically under their feet.
heartbreaking, Amy and the Orphans ex-
mented worker. Set against the immigration
Cast breakdown: 2 females; 1 male
plores the slowly expanding rift that can
battleground that is our current political
Publisher: Broadway Play Publishing
develop between siblings when adulthood
landscape, A Good Farmer puts a human face
www.broadwayplaypub.com
changes their relationship.
on the nature of this conflict and examines
Cast breakdown: 4 females*; 2 males
the humanity we lose when differences are
A Life, by Adam Bock
(*requires one actor with Down syndrome)
used as a wedge to divide us.
Lamenting yet another breakdown of a
Publisher: Samuel French
Cast breakdown: 5 females; 3 males (flex-
relationship due to his “intimacy issues,”
www.samuelfrench.com
ible casting)
Nate Martin looks for meaning outside
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
himself – first in the astrological charts he
Teenage Dick, by Mike Lew
has come to depend on and later through
In this retelling of Richard III, one of
the advice given to him by his best friend,
Shakespeare’s most iconic villains is
Curtis. Ultimately, he discovers the futility
reimagined in the form of a 17-year-old
of his endless search for life’s answers in a
high school student with cerebral palsy.
shocking twist midway through the play.
Plotting his ascent to high school royalty –
Bock’s darkly humorous A Life reminds
and the class presidency – young Richard
audiences that while the search for answers
plays on Anne’s liberal guilt to secure
4 x Southern Theatre x Winter 2020
www.dramatists.com n
Zackary Ross, an assistant professor of theatre at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, also works regularly as a director and a dramaturg.