Dark Part of the Forest
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
Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
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
Tammy RyanTAMMY RYAN's plays have been performed, commissioned and developed at theaters across the United States and internationally such as Alliance Theater, City Theater, Florida Stage, Marin Theater Company, People's Light, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theater and Portland Stage Company among others. Honors include the American Theater Critics Association's Francesca Primus Prize for LOST BOY FOUND IN WHOLE FOODS, and the American Alliance of Theater in Education's Distinguished New Play Award for THE MUSIC LESSON. Ryan was named a 2020 Haas fellow for her play TAKE MY HAND AND WAVE GOODBYE. Other works include SEVEN COUSINS FOR A HORSE (Thrown Stone Theater), THE WAKE (Premiere Stages) MOLLY'S HAMMER (Repertory Theater of St. Louis), SOLDIER'S HEART (Pittsburgh Playhouse) and BABY'S BLUES (NCPA/Mumbai). Her work has received support from the National New Play Network, The New Harmony Project, The Sewanee Writers Conference, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Heinz Endowments and The Pittsburgh Foundation. She is an alumna of the Pittsburgh Public Theater's Playwrights Collective and a resident playwright at New Dramatists.
Book Information
| Publisher | BPPI |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 8/15/2011 |
| Pages | 68 |
| ISBN | 9780881455007 |
Special Notes
Premiered at Premiere Stages at Kean University
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypublishing.com
