Neat at Actor's Express

Charlayne Woodard

Actor's Express

Authors

• Charlayne Woodard

Neat by Charlayne Woodard is masterful storytelling richly drawn from the playwright's own life. The play focuses on the teenage years of an African-American girl whose family moves from the South to the North in the turbulent 1960's. Part of the family is Aunt Neat, who was inadvertently poisoned as a baby resulting in brain damage and a life-long disability. Initially, young Charlayne adores her Aunt Neat, who seems like another child, but their relationship is tested as Charlayne becomes an adolescent. The story of the bond between these two is set against the struggles of typical teenage angst made tougher by outside prejudice and misunderstanding.