Conversation Pieces | ||||||
Vol. 71 — Articulation | ||||||
by Cesi Davidson
“In these fanciful, often hilarious plays you will discover a fantastic variety of characters—familiar nursery-rhyme figures who work in a ninety-nine-cent store and bet on horses, bananas and radishes, who discuss their ill-fated destinies, birds who sing songs of unrequited love, time travelers who skip about from Caribbean present-day to slavery-era Virginia, bunnies who meet in support groups.
“Many of the plays will have you laughing out loud. But they also
explore serious issues and wrenching troubles. Little Bo Peep finds
her marriage destroyed by the gambling habits of Big Man Blue. A bunny
mother struggles to accept her gender-fluid son/daughter. A young man
dreams of different incarnations of his drug-addicted mother, hoping
for maternal love to conquer his pain. A traumatized African-American
woman seeks to wash away the bloody stains of a racially motivated
violent assault.” Advance Praise
“Cesi Davidson’s short plays are swift but indelible, both light and
enlightening, their profound human truths conveyed with power and
originality. Each piece assembles an intriguing, often whimsical or
fantastic cast of characters (a young man and his dream mothers, two
guardians standing watch on a pregnant woman’s belly, a ripening
banana and its peel…) and gives them unbridled voice. The result is a
series of interactions that embody fresh takes on the conundrums, the
alienations and vulnerabilities—including those of race and class and
gender and sexuality—of contemporary life. We’re awakened to our own
ability to express our experiences, to feel our pain and that of
others, to persevere.”
“Cesi’s plays are adventures in wordscapes that show us the ways we
are and the ways we can be. Characters not often seen on screen, stage
or page populate her scenes in situations that make these short plays
eminently readable and relatable while being unapologetically
unique. Lovers of theater and fiction alike will find much to cherish
in this collection. Bravo!”
ISBN: 978-1-61976-175-9 (13 digit)
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