Sarah Treem's Play THE HOW AND THE WHY Starts the Second Half of the Dragon Season
By: Stephi Wild Jul. 07, 2019
Two evolutionary biologists, one a graduate student, the other an established leader in her field, meet for the first time. What follows is a smart, complex work about men and women, genetics and genius, and the overwhelming power of biological connection. Part of the 2nd Stages Series.
This beautiful play is produced and directed by Lana Palmer as a part of Dragon's 2nd Stage Series. Ms. Palmer says that "This is no casual meeting, and conversation gravitates to vital questions: Their work, their families, their choices, their bodies. And perhaps most importantly, their dreams - and the sacrifices made to achieve them.
These are women striving to gain, and keep, a foothold in a highly competitive field. While working on this play, we asked ourselves what it meant to be driven towards achievement and success, and whether these successes are enough to build a fulfilled life. While Zelda and Rachel are both scientists, I believe these questions are applicable to all of us. In the quote above, 'science' could easily be replaced by 'life'. I hope that this play offers you an entryway to explore your own questions on the great mystery of How and Why we become who we are."
Managing Director Kimberly Wadycki says "it's fascinating to simply sit and watch two women have a serious discussion about things like professional power and personal sacrifice. We take this for granted with men, but it's genuinely rare to see such a script written for women. And what really got me about this script - the scientific theories in the play are all true, they're just slightly reframed to make a broader point that's starting to see some real global conversation - women are underrepresented in medical studies, which is a shame because uterus owners represent about 50% of the species and are the members of the species that can reproduce. Biologically we're different, but fundamentally, we all want the same thing - to be happy, healthy, and treated with respect."
Co-artistic director Alika Spencer-Koknar says "Theatre has the power to compress time, narrative, and emotion to draw out connections that are too intangible to put one's finger on in the course of everyday life. Sarah Treem's masterfully crafted The How and the Why accomplishes just that by taking us on a journey through a terrain of varying scientific and emotional ideas all wrapped into one evening. An evening that exercises our muscles of empathy and critical thought. We first heard Lana's ideas about this beautiful and intricate play during the 2nd Stages interviews in 2018, which we had the pleasure of sitting in on with founder Meredith Hagedorn. It was during that interview that we just knew that this was a uniquely Dragon story and we had to make space for Lana to tell it. It was her incredible clarity of vision that inspired us and has rallied the perfect combination of artists around this project to create a small, yet mighty team. We cannot wait for you to experience this beautiful story of humanity and biology unfurl before your eyes."
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Sarah Treem is the Golden Globe Winning writer and producer of Showtime's The Affair. Her full-length plays include Empty Sky, Against the Wall, Mirror, Mirror, A Feminine Ending, Human Voices, When We Were Young and Unafraid, and Vienna's Amazing. A Feminine Ending received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in Fall 2007, was subsequently produced at South Coast Repertory and Portland Center Stage in 2008. Human Voices was part of Manhattan Theater Club's Springboard's New Play Series and New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Reading Season in 2007. Sarah has been in residence at The Sundance Institute and The Ojai Playwriting Conference. She has been commissioned by South Coast Repertory and Playwrights Horizons, and she is a current fellow at the Lark Playwrights' Workshop. On the television side, Sarah is a Writer/Producer on two acclaimed HBO series, In Treatment and Mark Wahlberg's How To Make It In America. She also writes for House of Cards for Netflix. Sarah is currently adapting Tom Wolfe's novel I Am Charlotte Simmons for Bill Haber and Tina Brown at HBO. Born in Boston and raised in multiple states on the east coast, Sarah graduated from Yale University with a B.A. and the Yale School of Drama with an MFA.
Featuring the talents of: Alicia Piemme Nelson as Rachel and Kelly Rinehart as Zelda.
Designers & Production Team: Lana Palmer (Director), Rebekah Lazar (Stage Manager), Issac Fine (Scenic Designer), Karl Haller (Technical Director), Bruce Avery (Lighting Designer), Lance Huntley (Photographer), Maggie Ziomek (Graphic Designer)
WHEN: July 12 - August 4, 2019
TIX & MORE INFO: http://dragonproductions.net/
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