Extraordinary People

by Sandra de Helen

Forty years ago, four sets of conjoined twins met and formed a consciousness-raising rap group. They bonded over their experiences as twins, as being conjoined, and of being discriminated against. Together they explored ways to help them evolve, and one thing they did was to ask people to stop referring to them as Siamese or conjoined. They preferred the term “extraordinary people.”
Now they gather again, this...

Forty years ago, four sets of conjoined twins met and formed a consciousness-raising rap group. They bonded over their experiences as twins, as being conjoined, and of being discriminated against. Together they explored ways to help them evolve, and one thing they did was to ask people to stop referring to them as Siamese or conjoined. They preferred the term “extraordinary people.”
Now they gather again, this time to bury one set of twins. They learn about their experiences over the ensuing decades. Medical advances have allowed for the separation of one set, self-separation caused another. The reunion brings them together again, in much different ways.
This is a comedy.

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Extraordinary People

Recommended by

  • Cynthia Chapman: Extraordinary People by Sandra de Helen
    “

    Sandra de Helen’s characters are born with complexities unlike any others and her play, Extraordinary People, allows us a glimpse of the intricate hurdles the conjoined twins must overcome, whether together or apart, as their individual identities develop in adulthood.

    Sandra de Helen’s characters are born with complexities unlike any others and her play, Extraordinary People, allows us a glimpse of the intricate hurdles the conjoined twins must overcome, whether together or apart, as their individual identities develop in adulthood.

    ”
  • Ali MacLean: Extraordinary People by Sandra de Helen
    “

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

    ”
  • Ali MacLean: Extraordinary People by Sandra de Helen
    “

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

    A fascinating look at conjoined twins and how people are connected and separated in life, in death, and in marriage. A funeral and a wedding bring several sets of twins back together to ruminate on whether or not to have surgery to end their disability, or to stay who they are and what makes them unique and together. Are they the same person if they are apart? Can they exist without one another? Many absorbing questions are woven into the arguments and confessions of these friends and siblings. Aptly named extraordinary people.

    ”
View all 5 recommendations