Suzan-Lori Parks

On November 13, 2002, the incomparable Suzan-Lori Parks got an idea to write a play every day for a year. She began that very day, finishing one year later. The result is an extraordinary testament to artistic commitment. This collection of 365 impeccably crafted pieces, each with its own distinctive characters and dramatic power, is a complete work by an artist responding to her world, each and every day. Parks is one of the American theater's most wily and innovative writers, and her "stark but poetic language and fiercely idiosyncratic images transform her work into something haunting and marvelous." (Time Magazine)Note: Theatre makers are welcome to present an assortment of selected plays from 365 Days/365 Plays. A presentation of 31 or more plays is considered "Full-Length," while a presentation of 30 or fewer plays is considered "One Act." All presentations must include the three plays known collectively as "The 3 Constants."

Fucking Ais an otherworldly tale involving a noble mother her wayward son and others. Hester Smith the revered and reviled local abortionist hatches a plan to buy her jailed son's freedom-and nothing will deter Hester from her quest. In this violent and wild-eyed blend of story and song which harkens to Brechtian and Jacobean structure Hester's branded letter A becomes a provocative emblem of vengeance violence and sacrifice." Critics' Pick! Timeless and enduringly relevant. As harrowing as it is witty!" - Ben Brantley The New York Times"Four stars! Like Hester's bloodily branded A the play leaves an indelible mark." - Raven Snook Time Out New York"A fiery raw-throated shout in the face of hypocrisy privilege and injustice." - Sara Holdren New York Magazine"An expressionistic and politically charged exploration of class family and violence studded with jarring bursts of humor and song." - Raven Snook Time Out New York

Leo, Misha, Ralph, and Dawn are old friends. The two couples have a lot in common--good educations, progressive politics, a taste for culture. But when a racially motivated incident with the cops leaves Leo shaken, he decides he must take extreme measures in order to survive. Suzan-Lori Parks' newest work reveals how easily fissures can form in the social contracts we build with one another when confronted with difficult questions about race and identity.

Thirty-somethings Leo, Misha, Ralph and Dawn have been inseparable since college. Making their way together in the big city, they are liberal, open-minded and socially aware. As best friends and lovers, confident in their 'woke-ness', their connection with each other is stronger than anything else – until Leo is assaulted by the police in a racially motivated incident. Shaken to the core, he brings to the group an extreme proposition... Suzan-Lori Parks' play White Noise takes an unflinching look at race in the twenty-first century from both a black and white perspective. It was first performed at The Public Theater, New York, in March 2019, directed by Oskar Eustis, and had its European premiere at the Bridge Theatre, London, in October 2021, directed by Polly Findlay.

A woman tries to feed her husband a fried drumstick. Dragons roam a flat earth. The last Black man in the whole entire world dies again. And again. Careening through memory and language, Parks explores and explodes archetypes of Black America with piercing insight and raucous comedy. A riotous theatrical event, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World hums with the heartbeat of improvisational jazz.

In reaction to the extraordinary events of the first hundred days of the presidency of Donald J. Trump, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks has created a unique and personal response to one of the most tumultuous times in our recent history--a play diary for each day of the presidency, to capture and explore the events as they unfolded. Known for her distinctive lyrical dialogue and powerful sociopolitical themes, Parks's 100 Plays for the First Hundred Days is the powerful and provocative everyman's guide to the Trumpian universe of uncertainty, confusion, and chaos.

The second volume in this series brings together some of the best new writing from contemporary American playwrights. Each play is introduced by critically acclaimed writers themselves. THE EDGE OF OUR BODIES by Adam Rapp, Introduced by AM Homes, follows a teenage girl Bernadette who has to grow up quickly when she discovers she is pregnant. THE COWARD by Nick Jones, introduced by Marsha Norman, is an absurdist comedy set in 18th century England. Lucidus initiates a pistol duel, but when he finds he'll have to fight the son of the man he challenged, he doesn't want to go through with it. His plot to avoid the duel creates more trouble. THE BOOK OF GRACE by Suzan-Lori Parks, introduced by Oskar Eustis, portrays a dysfunctional American family, where anger and mistrust are symptoms of historical abuse. WHAT ONCE WE FELT by Ann Marie Healy, introduced by Paula Vogel, is set in a mysterious parallel universe, where Macy is the last ever author to be published in print, the system has an underclass named the Tradepack, and a woman can only have a baby if she possesses the right kind of 'scan card'.

An epic dramatic trilogy set during the American Civil War, by one of America's leading playwrights. America, 1862, during the Civil War. Hero, a slave, is promised his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy against the Union. In a nation at war with itself, he must fight against those striving to abolish slavery. The family he leaves behind debates whether to escape or await his return, and they fear that, for Hero, freedom is an empty promise that may come at a great cost. Suzan-Lori Parks' Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) received its UK premiere in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016, directed by Jo Bonney. The trilogy premiered at The Public Theater, New York, in 2014, was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and won the Edward M Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.

Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award winner Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog) delivers the stunning first installment of a new American Odyssey set over the course of the Civil War. Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy Hero a slave must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be yet another empty promise. As his decision brings him face-to-face with a nation at war with itself the loved ones Hero left behind debate whether to

" Suzan-Lori Parks'] dislocating stage devices, stark but poetic language and fiercely idiosyncratic images transform her work into something haunting and marvelous."--"Time""An original whose fierce intelligence and fearless approach to craft subvert theatrical convention and produce a mature and inimitable art that is as exciting as it is fresh."--August WilsonNamed one of the "100 Innovators for the Next New Wave" by "Time" magazine, Suzan-Lori Parks is a truly original voice of the American theater. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur "Genius" Award, Parks is renowned for her groundbreaking language, theatricality, and an aesthetic that continues to evolve in unexpected ways. Her first full-length play since her award-winning "Topdog/Underdog," "The Book of Grace" is a scorching three-person drama in which a young man returns home to south Texas to confront his father, unearthing deep-seated passions and ambition. The play premiered in spring 2010 at the Public Theater, where Parks is in the midst of a three-year residency as the first recipient of the theater's master writer chair. Suzan-Lori Parks is a playwright, screenwriter, songwriter, and novelist. Her plays include "Topdog/Underdog" (winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize), "In the Blood" (a 2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist), "Venus" (OBIE Award winner) and "Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom" (OBIE Award, Best New American Play).

"By turns philosophical and playful, lyrical and earthy, "Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), swoops, leaps, dives and soars, reimagining a turbulent turning point in American history through a cockeyed contemporary lens... The wonder of Ms. Parks's achievement is how smoothly she blends the high and the low, the serious and the humorous, the melodramatic and the grittily realistic... The finest work yet from this gifted writer." - Charles Isherwood, "New York Times" "Can one-third of something already be a masterpiece? Seems like it to me... People long for stories that engage the deepest possible issues in the most gripping possible ways. "Father Comes Home From the Wars" is one of those stories--or maybe more than one." - Jesse Green, "New York" Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy, Hero, a slave, must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be another empty promise. As his decision brings him face to face with a nation at war with itself, the ones Hero left behind debate whether to escape or wait for his return, only to discover that for Hero, freedom may have come at a great spiritual cost. A devastatingly beautiful dramatic work, "Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)" is the opening trilogy of a projected nine-play cycle that will ultimately take us into the present. In 2002 Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for her play "Topdog/Underdog." Her other plays include "The Book of Grace," "In the Blood," "Venus," "The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World," "Fucking A," "Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom" and "The America Play." In 2007 her "365 Days / 365 Plays" was produced in more than seven hundred theaters worldwide. Parks is a MacArthur Fellow and the Master Writer Chair at the Public Theater.

The debut novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is a gutsy, funny, tragic and completely original work for fans of William Faulkner and Alice Walker. In the 1950s, in a small southern town in the US, the Beedes are the lowest of the low. Always struggling, they remain shackled by poverty and their own lack of ambition. Everyone, but sixteen-year-old Billie Beede. Billy Beede has big ideas about her life. She's had the Beede misfortune to get pregnant by an itinerant coffin salesman. And when he proves to have a wife and seven kids in another town, she determines to try her luck elsewhere. The answer seems to be in the hem of her mother's dress, her mother who died ten years ago. The rumour is that Willa Mae – a Billie Holiday look-alike – was the only Beede who made good, and was buried with a pearl necklace and a diamond ring sewn into the hem of her dress. Billie – and all her relatives – aim to get their hands on this treasure and make something of themselves. What follows is a mad road trip that evokes shades of Faulkner – in its potent earthiness – but also has the approachability and warmth of novels like The Colour Purple. This is a fantastic debut novel from an accomplished and well-loved American playwright.

Receiving news that a company plans to dig up the area where her mother is buried, supposedly with a cache of jewels belonging her lover, Dill Smiles, Billy Beede, poor and pregnant with an illegitimate child, heads for Arizona with her aunt and uncle to not only rescue her mother's body but search for the jewels they hope will bring them a new life. A first novel. Reader's Guide included. Reprint. 60,000 first printing.

A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity, winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity is Suzan-Lori Parks latest riff on the way we are defined by history. The play tells the story of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Haunted by the past, the brothers are forced to confront the shattering reality of their future. Suzan-Lori Parks is the author of numerous plays, including In the Blood and Venus. She is currently head of the A. S. K. Theater Projects Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia.