News And Blogs

Disgraced, which plays the Mark Taper Forum June 8 – July 17, 2016, touches on a wide range of topics, from the effects of Islamic extremism on Muslim Americans and the appropriation of Islamic traditions in Western art to identity, faith, and what it means to live the American dream. With assistance from the Goodman Theatre and Berkeley Rep,...

A ‘Disgraced’ Library of Resources

Since the late 1980s, Suzan-Lori Parks’ plays have graced stages in every major American city. She is a recipient of the coveted MacArthur “Genius” Award, the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the first Master Writer Chair at New York City’s Public Theater. Her newest play, Father Comes...

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Journey from a New York Bar to Household Name

Why would an African-American—and a slave—enter a Civil War battlefield on the side of the Confederacy? Hero, the character at the center of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), which plays the Mark Taper Forum through May 15, 2016, wrestles with this very question as the play opens. His mas...

How Slaves Fought—and Found Freedom—in the Civil War

Some great stories not only stand the test of time but go on to inspire great art for generations to come. Homer’s Odyssey, the story of Trojan War hero Odysseus’ journey from the battlefield to his home and family is one such masterpiece. Over 2,500 years after it was written (or spoken), The Odyssey continues to shape a sizable p...

Art That Drinks from the Well of ‘The Odyssey’

Historical and contemporary. Dramatic and vaudevillian. A big show and a personal story. The words Jo Bonney uses to describe Father Comes Home From The Wars by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks are full of contradictions. As is the production itself—and with good reason—said Bonney, who is directing the show’s run...

Jo Bonney Directs an Intimate Epic, a Contemporary History

The five plays that make up the 2016 season at the Mark Taper Forum are set across three centuries and two continents. They tackle race and religion, war and family strife, broken hearts and long friendships. But they do have one thing in common: all five plays have a woman playwright and/or a woman director behind them.And perhaps what’...

In 2016, Women Run the Mark Taper Forum