In the Wake
by Lisa Kron
directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg
February 11–March 4, 2012 in the Lyceum Space
The Story
“Variety called this stunning new play “a major American work for our time.” The San Francisco Chronicle raved, “The heady blend of smart dialogue and opinionated characters makes it a candidate to be the Angels in America of the Bush II decade…You’ll want to be able to say you saw it.”
It’s Thanksgiving of 2000 and the presidential election still has not been decided. Ellen, a hyper-intelligent and politically-obsessed freelance writer, insists that her friends don’t realize how bad the situation really is. Ellen, on the other hand, is 100% sure about everything—herself, her politics, her friends and lovers. No one—not her adoring boyfriend Danny, her new lover Amy, or her worldly wise and weary friend Judy—can make Ellen see the blind spot at the center of her own politics and emotional life.
This Obie Award-winning playwright’s brand new play is laced with incisive humor and surprising revelations about the assumptions of comfort and privilege that lie at the heart of the American character. Her epic tale, set in the turbulent Bush years of 2000–2005, asks us collectively to look for the blind spots that mask us from ourselves.
This ambitious and audacious new play is guaranteed to keep you talking all night long, no matter whom you voted for in the last election.
“A remarkable new American play.”—Huffington Post
Media Room
Dramaturgical notes