SEM Theater Teacher Susan Drozd Selects Works By Suzan-Lori Parks as the spring production. Why?
By Susan Drozd
Well, the secret is out - I am so super excited that Suzan-Lori Parks is coming to Buffalo!
The reasons include:
1. She's a living female playwright producing now! My current “Theatre Styles” class has studied her work.
2. In 2002 she became the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in drama for “Topdog/Underdog.”
3. She is a recipient of a 2001 MacArthur "Genius" Award and the Obie Award among many others.
4. She has written numerous plays for Broadway and beyond. She has written for film – “Girl 6” directed by Spike Lee, and the adaptation for film of “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” She has written a novel, “Getting Mother's Body,” and musicals - her adaptation of “Porgy & Bess” will be coming to Buffalo in March, and her current project “Unchain My Heart,” her Ray Charles musical, is scheduled for the Great White Way.
5. If that wasn't enough, she is also a teacher, a storyteller, a songwriter, a musician and a performance artist.
But, I think one of the coolest things about her is that in 2002 she achieved an amazing feat. This is what she wrote about this terrific accomplishment:
”The simple act of writing 365 plays in 365 days has inspired a nationwide grassroots festival creating a testament to the incredible diversity and richness of the American theatrical landscape.”
And so, inspired by her artistic genius, inspired by the Just Buffalo Literary Center’s BABEL series which is hosting Suzan-Lori on March 11, and inspired by the students of Buffalo Seminary, whom I believe will change the world for the better…. Our spring show will be a selection plays from “365 Days: 365 Plays.”
Opening Night: March 6th at 7 p.m.
Additional shows: March 7th at 7 p.m. and March 8th at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at the door. If you wish to reserve tickets, please CLICK HERE