Sometimes referred to as the “Mouth of the South,” Martha Mitchell could have played an important role in recent American history—if anyone had taken her seriously. The wife of John Mitchell, President Nixon’s Attorney General, she is most famous for her phone calls to the press regarding the administration’s Watergate scandal. Martha Mitchell Calling fleshes…
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The Good Person of Setzuan
Taken from Chinese folklore, Bertolt Brecht’s adaptation of this morality play ultimately asks how a good person can thrive in an ill-meaning, dishonest world. As the heroine finds a solution to her problems, “The Good Person of Setzuan” examines Brecht’s personal belief that altruism is in direct conflict with capitalism, and asks the audience how,…
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Back of the Throat
Since Sept. 11, 2001, many Arab-American playwrights have gained prominence as they attempt to expose their reality in light of the World Trade Center attacks and the implementation of the Patriot Act. Yussef El Guindi’s play about an Arab-American writer under Homeland Security scrutiny brings to light America’s fears and prejudices, and exemplifies how this…
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