THE STORY: The stage is bare except for a wooden loveseat and a young African-American woman. Then the lyrical, lifting words of Charlayne Woodard begin weaving stories of two young sisters in the small world of Albany, New York; of Ku Klux Klan riders burning a cross - the ironic "pretty fire" of the title - in the hilltop black town of Rosignol Hill, Georgia; of three generations of family love, struggle and triumph. And suddenly that empty stage becomes crowded with the authentic, mesmerizing experience of contemporary African-American life. PRETTY FIRE is an enthralling celebration of life. Filled with earthy humor, it takes readers on a universal journey through a world in which the family bond is as strong as steel.
"Exhilarating and unflaggingly entertaining
One of the most positive pictures of the black-American experience I've ever seen on stage
Rapturous tales
" - NY Times. "Life-affirming
One of the most moving and exhilarating evenings this year. We sometimes forget that theater at its most profound is a celebration of life. All by herself, Woodard accomplishes this with far greater ease than many plays that fill their stages with seeming multitudes." - NY Daily News. "A born winner
The extraordinarily gifted Charlayne Woodard offers five vignettes tracing her life from a premature birth to a joyous maturity at eleven years old. She is a professional charmer, playful, amusing, light-touched, occasionally ironic. Woodard holds us beautifully and gently. We are enchanted and moved" - NY Post. "Inspiring, illuminating and engrossing." - NY Newsday. "A remarkable tour de force
A remarkable feat of writing and performing - a rare autobiographical tour de force so lustrous it seems to reinvent the whole solo-acting genre." - LA Times.
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Dramatists Play Service Inc. |
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| Category |
Plays |
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| Medium |
Softcover |
| ISBN13 |
9780822219422 |
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| Dimensions |
197x134 |
