Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Theater: Three One-Act Plays Directed by Pirooz Aghssa
This spring the EMU Theater Group will offer three contemporary American one-act plays. These productions share themes of love and loss, and finding hope in the face of loss. They also focus on the alienation and isolation of not “fitting in."
Drowning by Maria Irene Fornes
Written during the mid-1980s as one of seven plays based on Anton Chekhov's short stories, Drowning portrays the darker side of human consciousness and self-awareness. Fornes drew inspiration from the loneliness of Chekhov's lead character, a man who falls in love with a woman in a newspaper photograph. The actors observing him wear masks and padded clothing to simulate grotesque onlookers. This portrayal of tragic love ends with the main character falling into a deep depression and drowning himself.
On Facebook by Doug Wright
On Facebook is a short play based on the author’s observations of an actual conversation he witnessed and heard on Facebook. The online conversation reveals interchanges among several people who only know each other virtually, but are extremely intolerant of each other’s political and religious views, and gender preferences.
The Sentinels by Matthew Lopez
Three 9/11 widows meet every year for breakfast at a coffee shop near the World Trade Center site, and are presided over by a sympathetic waitress. One message is: Catastrophes happen. This is an unfortunate, awful, and undeniable truth. One question is: Have you ever thought about what it would be like to lose a loved one in a brutal act of terror? Playwright Matthew Lopez strives to explore that unthinkable situation in The Sentinels.