Cardboard Piano

by Hansol Jung

Northern Uganda on the eve of the millennium: The daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl steal into a darkened church to seal their love in a secret, makeshift wedding ceremony. But when the surrounding war zone encroaches on their fragile union, they cannot escape its reach. Confronting the religious and cultural roots of intolerance, Cardboard Piano explores violence and its aftermath, as...

Northern Uganda on the eve of the millennium: The daughter of American missionaries and a local teenage girl steal into a darkened church to seal their love in a secret, makeshift wedding ceremony. But when the surrounding war zone encroaches on their fragile union, they cannot escape its reach. Confronting the religious and cultural roots of intolerance, Cardboard Piano explores violence and its aftermath, as well as the human capacity for hatred, forgiveness and love.

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Cardboard Piano

Recommended by

  • John Minigan: Cardboard Piano by Hansol Jung
    “

    A stunning play about the dueling powers of love and hatred, and of compassion and fear. It gives us both the past and the present on stage, asking us to look at how the pain of the past shapes life now and confronting us with the difficulty of forgiveness, the power of guilt, and the struggle to heal the deepest of wounds. Amazing work.

    A stunning play about the dueling powers of love and hatred, and of compassion and fear. It gives us both the past and the present on stage, asking us to look at how the pain of the past shapes life now and confronting us with the difficulty of forgiveness, the power of guilt, and the struggle to heal the deepest of wounds. Amazing work.

    ”
  • Eric Pfeffinger: Cardboard Piano by Hansol Jung
    “

    This remarkable play engages insightfully with the wider world on the macro level while simultaneously being an impeccably observed, detailed portrait of recognizable people living their lives. Moving and stirring and ingeniously structured.

    This remarkable play engages insightfully with the wider world on the macro level while simultaneously being an impeccably observed, detailed portrait of recognizable people living their lives. Moving and stirring and ingeniously structured.

    ”
• Christina "Chris" Englewood - a sixteen-year-old white American
• Adiel Nakalinzi - a sixteen-year-old Ugandan girl
• Pika - a child soldier
• Soldier
• Paul - a pastor, later revealed to be Pika, grown-up
• Ruth - Paul's wife
• Francis - a young gay man

Doubling - Adiel and Ruth, Francis and Pika, and Paul and Soldier should be played by the same actor.

Development History

  • Reading, Mondays@3 Reading Series, New York Theatre Workshop, 2015
  • Workshop, O'Neill New Play Conference, 2015
  • Workshop, Carlotta Festival of New Plays, Yale School of Drama , 2014

Production History

  • Professional, TimeLine Theatre, 2019
  • Professional, Actor's Express (Atlanta), 2017
  • Professional, Humana Festival at Actor's Theater of Louisville, 2016

Awards

  • Arch and Bruce Brown Playwriting Competition
    Honorable Mention
    2014
  • Kilroys List
    The Kilroys
    Selection
    2015