Cover photo by Megan Terry

Approaching Simone

Megan Terry

This play is included in the collection:
Plays by Megan Terry

Winner of a 1970 Obie Award

Play Description

Simone Weil, a French girl of Jewish extraction whose death in 1943 was caused primarily by self-imposed starvation, is the subject of this striking theatrical exploration into the nature of faith and spirituality. APPROACHING SIMONE gives fascinating insights into this extraordinary woman who was later canonized as a saint.

Production Info

Cast: 16 total (6 female, 10 male)
Full Length Drama (about 120 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes

Categories: Full Length in Collection, The Plays Tags: Jewish, Historical Figure, 1940s

Reviews
About the Author(s)
About the Book

Press Quotes

“The work of no other contemporary American playwright can boast the extraordinary scope of that of Megan Terry. In the course of over thirty years her collected plays have become a virtual compendium of the styles of modern drama, ranging from collaborative ensemble work to performance art to naturalism … Beginning with her earliest work, she has devised a politically and socially activist theater, using a diversity of nonrealistic forms to challenge a culture which has systematically disparaged nonlinear drama. Megan Terry remains a key figure in the development of the American alternative theater.” —David Savran, In Their Own Words: Contemporary American Playwrights

“Terry’s treatment of her story is masterly … There is nothing unnecessary. It is as sparse, as vital and as undemonstrative as Simone’s own life … a superb theatrical coup.” —Clive Barnes, New York Times

“APPROACHING SIMONE is a chronicle — grave, didactic, warm, filled with an incandescent interest in its subject … a rare theatrical event for these hysterical and clownish times, a truly serious play, filled with the light, shadow and weight of human life, and the exultant agonies of the ceaseless attempt to create ones humanity. Megan Terry’s play, may very well stimulate renewed interest in one of the most powerful minds and tormented spirits our age has produced.” —Jack Kroll, Newsweek

“… a purity of intent that is startling. Before I write another line let me say that Ms Terry’s script … is absolutely magnificent, the most impressive new play in a very long while.” —Kevin Kelly, The Boston Globe

“… Simone Weil is radically different from the sort of woman we usually find represented in the theater … she is an adult female being. Her battles are not sexually determined. She is a throwback to the Greeks. By exhibiting physical, intellectual, and spiritual courage, she deals with both internal conflicts and political struggles.” —Harriet Kriegel, Women In Drama

Author(s)

Megan Terry
Megan Terry's plays include BREAKFAST SERIAL, CALM DOWN MOTHER, KEEP TIGHTLY CLOSED IN A COOL DRY PLACE, HOTHOUSE, EX-MISS COPPER QUEEN ON A SET OF PILLS, THE PEOPLE VS RANCHMAN, GOONA GOONA, MOLLIE BAILEY'S TRAVELING FAMILY CIRCUS: FEATURING SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF MOTHER JONES, PRO GAME, BODY LEAKS, SOUND FIELDS, and OBJECTIVE LOVE. She has published over forty-five plays. Most have been translated and produced worldwide. She has won a number of major writing awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Obie Award for APPROACHING SIMONE. She was elected to lifetime membership by the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, installation at the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, in recognition of: "Distinguished service to the profession by an individual of acknowledged national stature." In 1992 she was named Nebraska Artist of the Year. Ms Terry is photographer and co-editor of Right Brain Vacation Photos, New Plays and Production Photographs 1972 – 1992. Ms Terry has a degree from the University of Washington, certificates in acting, directing, and design from the Banff School of Fine Arts, Banff, Alberta, Canada, and was awarded the Yale-ABC Fellowship: Writing for the Camera at Yale University. She has had a long association with the Omaha Magic Theatre, in Omaha, Nebraska, as playwright in residence, photographer, performer, and musician.