The America Play

Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Nia Witherspoon

"The America Play" is a contemporary classic of the U.S. American theatre by one of its greatest living playwrights, Suzan-Lori Parks. In it, the character of "The Foundling Father" is an African American carnival worker, who impersonates Abraham Lincoln in an attraction set up next to "The Great Hole of History." There people pay for the chance to re-enact that famous assassination again and again and again. A nuanced and entertaining look at how events in the past continue to exert their effects on the present, this production will mark the 10th anniversary of the School of Film, Dance and Theatre’s Theatre & Performance of the Americas program.

Photo credit: Tim Trumble courtesy of Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts