Plays written by Suzan Zeder
DO NOT GO GENTLE
THE EDGE OF PEACE
MOTHER HICKS
THE TASTE OF THE SUNRISE: TUC’S STORY
WHEN SHE HAD WINGS
Synopses:
Do Not Go gentle (1M, 3W, 1 boy, 1 girl) – Lillian Boedecker Barron is 84 years old, vibrant, funny, wise, and recently deceased! During her lifetime, Lillian shared a special, long-distance bond with her granddaughter, Kelly, and suffered an estrangement from her son Windsor, a Colonel in the Air Force, as he moved his family from base to base all over the world. After her death, Lillian discovers that she cannot “move on” until the rifts are somehow mended. Windsor and Kelly come from overseas to settle Lillian’s affairs and are aghast to discover that the walls of her house have been painted with wild, sometimes humorous, sometimes horrific murals and drawings. As they unravel secrets of the paintings, the two make astonishing discoveries about themselves and a special relationship between Lillian and a neighborhood child. This powerful, poignant play explores the wonder of words and the transformative power of art as it offers humor and hope to anyone who is, or has ever been, a grandparent, parent, or a child.
The Edge of Peace – (5M 6W; Deaf actor required) The Edge of Peace is the third and final play in the acclaimed Ware Trilogy, which includes Zeder’s award-winning plays Mother Hicks and The Taste of Sunrise. It is set in the same tiny town of Ware, Illinois, and follows many of the same characters as they spin the conclusion of their stories. Set in 1945 in the last desperate days of World War II, this play deals with the impact on a family and a community after a young man from the town is declared missing in action and the soldier’s little brother refuses to believe what seems inevitable. In the visual poetry of sign language, Tuc, who is now a mechanic and the deaf postman for the town, takes us on a journey of hope through a landscape of loss. But there is suspicion and mystery afoot. Not far from town, a German prisoner of war escapes from a nearby camp and has been seen lurking in the shadows. Up on Dug Hill, the mysterious Nell Hicks is suspected of being a “sympathizer”; because she listens to radio broadcasts in German. A recruiter from the Goodyear Plant comes to town with an offer for Tuc to leave a home, where he is valued and respected, to join a Deaf community far away in Akron. Eleven-year-old Buddy patrols the streets, searches for clues and tries to hold his family together as everyone waits for news about the missing soldier and prays for peace. Each of the plays in the Ware Trilogy can be produced independently, but taken together they lead us through three pivotal eras of American history as reflected in the lives of the families who live in Ware. At the core of each play is an issue important to Deaf and hearing cultures, but most important are the human stories of longing and loss, humor and hope that will resonate with audiences of all ages.
Mother Hicks – (4-5M 4W) Deaf actor required. Set in the late spring of 1935 during the Great Depression, this play is about three outsiders—a foundling girl known only as Girl; a deaf boy, eloquent in the language of his silence; and an eccentric recluse, Mother Hicks, who is suspected of being a witch. The tale, told with poetry and sign language, chronicles the journeys of these three to find themselves, and each other, in a troubled time. Open stage with several areas suggested. American Midwest costumes from 1935. Approximate running time: 90 minutes.
The Taste of Sunrise: Tuc’s Story – (4M 5W) This bilingual play in American Sign Language and spoken English takes place in the mind and memory of the adult Tuc as he journeys through his childhood from the fever dream that took his hearing, to the language of nature which he shares with his beloved father, to the deaf school where his mind explodes with the discovery of sign language. After the death of his father, Tuc must navigate a perilous path between Deaf and hearing cultures as he struggles to weave a family out of wishes. Multiple set locations. Rural Midwest costumes of 1920s and 1930s. Approximate running time: 90 minutes.
When She Had Wings (2M, 3W, 1 flex) – A story told in sound, movement and words about 9-year-old B … just plain B, like the letter, like the grade, who is about to turn 10 and is not happy about that! B knows, really knows, that before she could walk, she could fly. She is desperate to remember how before the dreaded birthday comes. In a summer thunderstorm, B’s treehouse is hit by lightning, and a mysterious stranger appears. She cannot speak except in strange squawks, single words and occasionally the letters “KHAQQ” … the call letters of the plane Amelia Earhart was flying when she disappeared and was never found. Is this creature a bird, an older woman escaped from a senior care unit or could she possibly be Amelia herself? Together they must help each other remember how to fly … literally and metaphorically.
BIO:
Suzan Zeder has been recognized nationally and internationally as one of the nation’s leading playwrights for family audiences. Her plays have been performed in all 50 states and many countries in Europe and Asia. She is a six-time winner of the AATE Distinguished Play Award. Her most recent published play, When She Had Wings, was developed at New Visions/New Voices at the Kennedy Center and was originally commissioned by Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Md. She has also written the book and co-written lyrics for the musical Gretel! The Musical, which premiered in Austin in 2019. Currently, she is at work on a major musical titled The Battlefields of Clara Barton, about the civil war nurse, women’s rights activist and founder of the American Red Cross. It recently received a workshop production by the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University in October of 2021. Zeder has co-authored Spaces of Creation: The Creative Process of Playwriting with her husband, movement specialist Jim Hancock, which takes an innovative mind-body approach to many forms of creative work. In 2013, Zeder retired from the University of Texas at Austin, where she led the playwriting/directing program for more than 23 years and was the holder of an endowed chair in theatre for youth/playwriting. As president of the board of trustees of the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America, she helms an organization that provides grants to artists, bestows awards and funds collaborative activities in the field of theatre for young audiences. She now resides in Santa Fe, N.M.
*Please note that some titles are handled by Dramatic Publishing. Please ask if you don’t see a particular play.