A Preface to the Alien Garden
Play Description
A PREFACE TO THE ALIEN GARDEN takes a hard look at the gangsta lifestyle in present-day Kansas City.
Production Info
Cast: 7 total (3 female, 4 male)Full Length Drama (about 110 minutes)
- Reviews
- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
Press Quotes
“… Robert Alexander’s A PREFACE TO THE ALIEN GARDEN is a heart-thumping, gut wrenching peek into one small pocket of drugs, gangs and violence … the poetic beauty of Alexander’s script … Alexander’s language is sharp, quick and clever …” —Terry Byrne, Boston Herald
“… PREFACE is nothing less than a testament to what theater can do (and what TV and movies can’t), which is to stir something ineffable in your soul and transport you to a place where human potential can be raised and then dashed on the rocks. This tragic awareness that the theater can induce is achieved too rarely and seldom. But, as one of the play’s characters might say, PREFACE has ‘the juice.’ Playwright Robert Alexander has stated that he wrote his ‘gangsta’ play as a cautionary tale for his child, but his play is more than social commentary. And, yes, it’s filled with words that many will find offensive. But that is just one element in the language of this play which riffs and scats like the best bebop or hiphop. Filled with metaphor, imagery and rhyming syntax, Mr Alexander’s drama is one of sheer urban poetry … the play itself is brave and brilliant. The stark light that it shines forces acknowledgement of our shared world and challenges us all to do better.” —Bill Oakes, Bay Window
“… the soaring poetry of some of the rap duels and the plaintive speeches of Lisa and Rick as they bid to discover a way to escape their fates are testimony to Alexander’s authentic talent, expressed with an authentic voice …” —Laurence J Sasso Jr, The Observer
Author(s)
Robert AlexanderRobert Alexander is the author of 29 plays, including SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE, I AIN'T YO' UNCLE, A PREFACE TO THE ALIEN GARDEN, and THE LAST ORBIT OF BILLY MARS. His plays have been produced by Trinity Rep, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, the Mark Taper Forum, the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Hartford Stage, San Diego Repertory Company, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Mr. Alexander has received grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has a B.A. from Oberlin College, and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa where he was a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow.
Book Information
| Publisher | BPPI |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 6/1/2001 |
| Pages | 86 |
| ISBN | 9780881451917 |
Special Notes
If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:
Originally produced by Trinity Repertory Company, Providence RI
In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypub.com
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