Newly engaged, Norah (African-American) and Simon (Nigerian) are in love. As two of their friends look on and narrate, a thwarted romantic moment spirals Norah and Simon into an argument based on stereotypes and power.

“The Meadow ” is the first play in a trilogy of interconnected, self-contained plays which explore sexism, racism, and identity in the African-American community from approximately 1862 through 1950, geographically spanning from Richmond, Virginia up through and including Philadelphia, New York and Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1862 near Richmond, Virginia on the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation as the the Civil War rages in and around Richmond, a love triangle develops between a free African American woman, her free husband and an enslaved Native American woman. The Meadow chronicles the characters’ physical and emotional journeys, replete with jealousies, rage, and their tenuous hold on freedom through a love story seldom told. The Meadows’ backdrop is an America breaking formally free from slavery, but with the majority of African Americans moving into a form of indentured servitude. The Meadow itself is a surrealistic character.

The play "Rachel and Me. Together." never ends. In the tradition John Jesurun created to describe his own work, the play is "a living serial." Always set the day of the performance in real time, the play explores the lifelong friendship between two middle-aged women: African-American professor Maria who lives in the Philadelphia area, and Jewish-American nurse Rachel, who having made aliyah, resides in Jerusalem. Against the current strife on their way to the Philadelphia International Airport where Maria will drop Rachel for her flight home, they stop in a Delaware Valley suburban ice cream restaurant, “Trendly’s.” Conflicts arise from the clash between Maria’s ardent anti-racism activism, and Rachel’s fervent embrace of Zionism. The play is constantly revised and updated to reflect the most recent world events and news regarding white supremacy and white privilege, Islamophobia, Zionism, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. Before, during, and after the play, the performance space is continually flooded with multimedia including but not limited to images and sounds of war, peace, friendship, love, and current events pertaining to the world (and in particular the Middle East, Israel, and Palestine). Improvisation: Improvisation is perhaps the most important part of the play, but actresses must first evidence a familiarity with the Conflict and its history. Please see the attached abbreviated list of resources.

"‘Lacunae’ examines the issues and implications of neighborhood gentrification and the reactions – both positive and negative – of its newest and its long-term residents... "Philadelphia, PA (November 29, 2017) In one of the final events of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s year-long Philadelphia Assembled project, playwright Mona R. Washington debuts her latest work, the play within a play “Lacunae” on Saturday, December 09, 12:00pm at the Museum’s Perelman Building, 2525 Pennsylvania Avenue. Told through the overlapping stories of a hipster girl and Eduard Charlemont’s “The Moorish Chief,” the subject of one of the most famous paintings in the Museum’s collection, the play examines the laborious effort required to create meaningful public art in the City of Brotherly Love. Defined as ‘a blank space or a missing part,’ “Lacunae” is the last theater presentation of Philadelphia Assembled, an ambitious mixture of art meets civic engagement and community building, which began last spring.
The title represents a synthesis of the varied experiences involved in creating art – individual and collective vision, materials, funding, spaces, trust, etc. – while the play within a play explores the issues of gentrification, displacement and exactly what makes a ‘Just Neighbor’ – which isn’t necessarily a benevolent concept.
“It depends on who you ask,” Washington points out. “For some it means welcoming new residents, while for others it means keeping them out. Part of my project, under the theme of “Reconstructions,” probes the question of what does it mean to be a good neighbor in a gentrifying neighborhood?”
The subject of one of the Museum’s most famous works of art coming to life serves as a metaphor for the dual reality of Philadelphia’s changing neighborhoods. “Just like land and gentrification, “The Moorish Chief” is lauded by many museumgoers for myriad reasons and values,” she observes. “A new, luxury loft might symbolize progress for some, while the absence of the old building which once sat in its space may mean failure or regression to others.”
Washington is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and Harvard Law School. She is a proud member of Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA). Her plays have been performed in New York, Philadelphia, Rome and Paris. She's been awarded fellowships at The Djerassi Foundation, The Dora Maar House (Provence, France), The Ucross Foundation, and The Jack Kerouac House, amongst others.
Philadelphia-based director, Anthony P. Kamani is a theatre professional with over twenty years of acting, directing and producing experience. He has been a member of the Barrymore Award-winning Venture Theatre Company Educational Department and Reality Crew. Kamani is also co-creator of the Painted Bride Art Center’s Bridal Salon (writer’s workshop series).
A wide-ranging project originated by Jeanne van Heeswijk, and utilizing a multifaceted collaboration of artists, storytellers, organizations and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), Philadelphia Assembled, explores the city’s most relevant social issues and community building through five themes: “Reconstructions,” “Sovereignty,” “Sanctuary,” “Futures” and “Movement.”
http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/854.html?page=1

Valentine's Day: People talk about Love.

Visitors visit and discuss Kara Walker's "Marvelous Sugar Baby" exhibition.

An email exchange between old college friends reveals racism.

Racist taxi driver hassles African-American female passenger

Neighbors argue about their dogs' behaviors.

About the Opera "Tremors"


Angelica, the mezzo-soprano, is the lead character’s name. The Opera is about Angelica’s sexual awakening, and her realization of her past self complicity that led to her suicide attempt.

This scene is early October 2020.

ACT ONE

At 21, finally--an anguished Angelica comes out to her family. Her religious, suburban White Plains Mother and Father are less than supportive which doesn’t surprise but still depresses Angelica, and they care much more about her using her newly minted Spelman Biochemistry degree than any of her emotional needs. Her wonderful older brother Jesse who lives nearby encourages and loves her. Her old childhood friend Bernadette, still lives nearby and is loyal and caring. Angelica plans to move from to Manhattan as soon as she finds a job there---but for now she’s stuck in White Plains and interviews via Zoom.

Optimistic about her love life for the first time, an enthusiastic Angelica is ready to date. She meets Xaviera, Maya, and Jackie through “Pink Cupid“ and flirts with each one, but they all live Far Far Away. Angelica becomes convinced she’ll never find her soulmate -- or even have a real in-person date, that she won’t love or be loved.

Despite the fact that the only lesbian she knows is her acquaintance Samantha, Bernadette insists Samantha is the perfect woman for Angelica, and wants to set them up on a blind date. Leery, and weary, Angelica agrees to the set-up and she and Samantha have a Zoom date. Samantha is FINE, and their chat becomes seductive and steamy. Instant attraction. Angelica is in love for the first time. Angelica eagerly agrees to meet Samantha for an outdoor coffee. Angelica tells her brother and Bernadette that maybe she will find love after all. After cancelling their coffee date, Samantha abruptly asks a disappointed but curious Angelica to help her host a haunted house Halloween fundraiser for the Trevor Project , at a nearby old house she and her friends have decorated.


Dressed respectively as “Whitney Gilbert“ and “Foxy Brown”, Angelica and Samantha enter a seemingly quiet house through an empty dusty living room. Samantha immediately excuses herself and Angelica stands alone, uneasy and uncomfortable.

About the Opera “Stagecoach Mary”
Historical Background: “Standing six feet tall and powerful, many bandits learned to stay
clear of Stagecoach Mary in the American Old West. Stagecoach Mary Fields carried a gun,
smoked, drank and had a wicked temper.” 1 Bandits beware: In 1890s Montana,
would-be mail thieves didn’t stand a chance against Stagecoach Mary. The
hard-drinking, quick-shooting mail carrier sported two guns, men’s clothing
and a bad attitude.2
But---hidden beneath Mary’s rough, tobacco spittin’, 6’ rough exterior, and bottle flyin’
larger than life persona, is a sometimes fatigued spirit who’d occasionally like…. some tea
and tender lovin’. This opening aria introduces us to Mary, a multi-layered character,
whose reputation and outward demeanor hide a warm, tender, brutally honest heart. Each
episode of exterior violence and bravada rests upon a soft pliable, emotional core to which
only she and her friend Mother Amadeus are privvy.
Setting: 1890s. Sundown in a Montana cowboy bar. Worn wooden planks and semifinished
walls frame the stage. This aria hints of the many settings, jobs, and people she has,
has, and will encounter in her hard spun life.
Two cowboys sit to the side of the bar, talking and drinking their whiskey. Two women and
a man quickly walk across stage, acknowledging one another as they head toward home at
the end of a long, country day.
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