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Since Africa
Play Description
SINCE AFRICA chronicles the relationship between a Dinka refugee from Southern Sudan and three Americans — a North Shore socialite, her daughter, and an African American Deacon — who help him acclimate to Chicago’s unfamiliar urban surroundings. A look at American culture through the eyes of an African, this play explores the tensions between blacks and whites, Africans and African Americans, the devout and the non-religious.
Production Info
Cast: 5 total (3 female, 2 male, multiethnic cast)Full Length Drama (about 120 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
- Reviews
- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
- Productions
Press Quotes
“… a play of culture shocks and culture clashes, has you reexamining the everyday patterns of the America you take for granted … many flashes of radiance but a subtle through-line.” —Howard Shapiro, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“McCullough uses the characters’ relationships with Ater to explore such big themes as cultural imperialism, the persistence of ritual and the human cost of both social isolation and the need to belong.” —James Hebert, The San Diego Union Tribune
“McCullough has written a sensitive and deeply thoughtful play.” —Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
Author(s)
Mia McCulloughMia McCullough's plays have been produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, and Stage Left Theatre in Chicago, as well as around the country at the Old Globe and Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company in San Diego, InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia, Actor's Express in Atlanta, and the Victory Theater Center in Los Angeles, among others. Her work has been developed through Goodman Theatre's New Stages Festival, the PlayPenn conference, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's First Look Repertory, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Stage Left Theatre's LeapFest and Chicago Dramatists. Her play SINCE AFRICA received its New York premiere at Red Fern Theatre Company in February 2014. Her play IMPENETRABLE, which recently opened at Clockwise Theatre in Waukegan, was a finalist for the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)'s 2013 Steinberg Award. She has won the ATCA Osborn Award, the Julie Harris Playwriting Competition, a Cincinnati Entertainment Award, and a Jeff Award for New Work (all for CHAGRIN FALLS). Ms. McCullough has been a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (SINCE AFRICA), the Jane Chambers Award (IMPENETRABLE), as well as a nominee for a Jeff Award for Best New Play multiple times. Several of her plays have been published by Broadway Play Publishing. She is adjunct faculty at Northwestern University, where she teaches playwriting and screenwriting. She is also the author of several screenplays, a resident playwright with Chicago Dramatists, and a member of the Dramatists Guild. She lives just outside Chicago with her husband and child.
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:
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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