Dark Part of the Forest
Play Description
Joan moves from the city to the country with her air traffic controller husband and their twelve-year-old daughter in search of peace and safety. Instead the move creates a growing sense of anxiety in Joan. When young girls begin to disappear, her anxieties are confirmed and the growing tension begins to tear apart the family. Interweaving fairytales with Joan’s memories of her own sexual coming of age, DARK PART OF THE FOREST follows Joan back through her fears until she can emerge transformed.
Production Info
Cast: 5 total (3 female, 2 male)Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
- Reviews
- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
Press Quotes
“Tammy Ryan should have called her new play ‘The Dark Part of the Marriage’ instead of the DARK PART OF THE FOREST … in the play’s potent debut … Joan and Bill’s faltering marriage is the main event. What’s also intriguing about DARK PART OF THE FOREST is the abundance of fairy tale imagery … Ryan has written no fairy tale, though. She can be grimmer than the Grimm brothers — but just as enigmatically entertaining.” —Peter Filichia, The Star-Ledger
“Hauntingly poetic language.” —Anna Rosenstein, In Pittsburgh
“… compact, poetic, turbulent writing … a vivid appreciation of how dark the forest that surrounds us can be … a topic this is both timely and eternal …” —Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“There are few contemporary plays … that leave audiences frozen in their seats … the writing is eerily real …” —Keren Schultz, The Westfield Leader
Author(s)
Tammy RyanTAMMY RYAN is a playwright and librettist whose work has been performed across the United States and internationally. She was awarded the Francesca Primus Prize by the American Theater Critic’s Association for her play LOST BOY FOUND IN WHOLE FOODS (Premiere Stages/Playwrights Theater of New Jersey.). Other plays include SOLDIER'S HEART, DARK PART OF THE FOREST (Premiere Stages) A CONFLUENCE OF DREAMING, BABY'S BLUES, FBI GIRL (Pittsburgh Playhouse), and THE MUSIC LESSON (Florida Stage/2001 Carbonell Award Best Production/2004 AATE Distinguished New Play Award). In addition, her play, TAR BEACH (Luna Stage), a finalist for the Terrance McNally Playwriting Award and a Jane Chambers Award honoree was included on “The List” of the most outstanding plays by women playwrights in 2014 compiled by the Kilroys. Ryan has held fellowships at Virginia Center of the Creative Arts, Hambidge Center, and the Sewanee Writers Conference. Her work has been featured in the National New Play Network’s National Showcase of Plays and has been read and developed at the New Harmony Project, Premiere Stages Play Festival, The Ignite Festival, The Lark and elsewhere.
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:
Premiered at Premiere Stages at Kean University
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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