Plays by Y York
Description
This collection includes three full-length plays: THE SECRET WIFE, THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE, and GERALD’S GOOD IDEA. THE SECRET WIFE: A story about CIA men and their wives and KGB men and their wives. THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE: A Native American family and an African American family find communion with one another and with the beleaguered natural world. GERALD’S GOOD IDEA: Gladys gets the chance to return to Earth and make something of her life.
Plays in This Collection
Press Quotes
“If there is a common thread in York’s projects, it is that they are full of uncommon characters: children, 1960s housewives, black financial consultants, Native American activists. Very few of York’s characters seem to have anything to do with the playwright herself … and her attention to those differences gives her work a frankly political spin.” —American Theater
“[Y York makes her points] by not taking herself too seriously, even as she offers astute observations about environmental, racial, and family matters.” —New York Times
“The future with all its exhilarating potential and terrifying possibilities has Y York in its grip. York does not struggle to break free, or even squirm. Calmly, with great wit and insight, she writes plays: environmental science-fiction plays that raise important questions even as they entertain.” —Saint Louis Post Dispatch
“[Y York] displays a strong imagination and raucous humor …” —Saint Louis Sun
“[Y York] writes with passion and delivers a powerful appeal for personal freedom and idiosyncratic behavior.” —Saint Louis Post-Dispatch
THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE
“An ambitious ‘modern fable’ — concerning ecological disaster, race relations, and the human condition … A Native American fisherman’s extreme response to an atrocious oil spill brings his family together with that of the African American lawyer who defends him … The script conspires to bring massive, global issues to a human, even comic plane. Peripheral choices — such as a mother struggling with whether to not to stop contributing to her planet’s demise by using laundry bleach — are weighed against the fisherman’s violent choice in a world where rats chewing through computer chips can bring our entire justice system to a halt. In the ‘avalanche’ of today’s reality, this show offers us a chance to examine our own responsibility as, you guessed it, the flakes.” —The Seattle Weekly
“York has a real flair for wry, intelligent humor … THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE forgoes preaching for a gentle hopefulness that we can set things right on the planet and learn to understand each other better.” —Seattle Times
“At one point in a discussion on environmental responsibility, [Janet, the wife of] Thomas, a Native American being defended for shooting the president of a corporation responsible for a major oil spill, refers to Russell, as ‘you white people.’ Action stops for a moment, and the implications hit, with strong force. To say that Y York’s THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE, playing at the Group Theatre, is provocative, is somewhat an understatement.” —Seattle Gay News
“An OUR TOWN for Our Time … THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE is about … our shared home — earth … York has a wonderful gift for writing funny lines, and she’s endowed all her characters with individual senses of humor. Even a sort of all-knowing nature sprite … has a delightful, sly wit. The tone and style of the whole production is, indeed, surprisingly light for what is basically a play about philosophical decisions … THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE is an adult play which children can enjoy.” —Bellevue Journal American
Author
Y YorkY York's works include: LATE IN THE GAME, …AND LA IS BURNING (recipient of the 2008 Smith Prize from the National New Play Network), BLEACHERS IN THE SUN, FRAMED, THE GAME OF LIGHT, WOOF (Houston's Buzzy for best new play), IT COMES AROUND, KRISIT, THE NEW DARK CLARITY, THE SNOWFLAKE AVALANCHE, THE SECRET WIFE, GERALD'S GOOD IDEA, RAIN. SOME FISH. NO ELEPHANTS., THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF NOW, and numerous works for families. Y York's plays has been recognized with 2004 Hawai'i Award for Literature, the 1997 Berilla Kerr Award, and the New Dramatists' 1992 Joe Calloway Award. She has been supported by grants from TCG/Pew Charitable Trust, AT&T Onstage, King County Arts Commission (Washington), Seattle Arts Commission, and Artists Trust (Washington). Y York is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and an alumna member of New Dramatists.