DANA H. tells the harrowing true story of a woman held captive in a series of Florida motels for five months. Told in Dana's own words and reconstructed for the stage by her son, playwright Lucas Hnath, this groundbreaking work shatters the boundaries of the art form and challenges our understanding of good and evil.
Something of a grande dame of Off Broadway - although I suspect she'd roll her expressive eyes at the notion - O'Connell here gives a performance that seamlessly blends an extraordinary technical acting challenge with the earthiness, plucky everywoman humanity and the subtle spirituality that have often been hallmarks of her work. Both play and performance are a gift we are lucky to receive, as this Broadway season shapes up to be a landmark one for its presentation of unconventional new plays and revelatory performances.
I mentioned that the actress here - the magnificent Deirdre O'Connell -doesn't speak, but that's not entirely accurate, but I was reluctant to use the phrase 'lip-sync' too early. The art form's usual connotation of comedy and/or deception doesn't apply here. Mouthing the words of actual interview tape recordings in which Higginbotham opens up about her ordeal, O'Connell and Dana H. convey both the specifics of one woman's trauma and something universal about the all-encompassing nature of abuse and its survival.
2020 | Off-Broadway |
Vineyard Off-Broadway Premiere Off-Broadway |
2021 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | Deirdre O'Connell |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Play | Dana H. |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Les Waters |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Deirdre O'Connell |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Mikhail Fiksel |
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