Strange Men by Will Snider

Harish lives a modest life running a restaurant in a small market town in Uganda. A member of the minority Indian population, he is estranged from his family for reasons he prefers not to discuss. At night he cooks elaborate dinners to eat alone. When an openly gay Peace Corps volunteer comes to town looking for more than a meal, Harish’s comfortable routine is broken – and his life put in danger – in this...
Harish lives a modest life running a restaurant in a small market town in Uganda. A member of the minority Indian population, he is estranged from his family for reasons he prefers not to discuss. At night he cooks elaborate dinners to eat alone. When an openly gay Peace Corps volunteer comes to town looking for more than a meal, Harish’s comfortable routine is broken – and his life put in danger – in this simmering exploration of the limits of good intentions, the social disruption of Americans abroad and the menace that hides behind a smile.
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Strange Men

Recommended by

  • Pravin Wilkins:
    16 Apr. 2021
    “ As an Indian American, this is the first play I ever saw that centered someone who looks like me. A gripping exploration of the relationship between race & nationality as well as the politics of violence that surround sexuality, 'Strange Men' is a piece that I continue to think about years after seeing it. An exceptional play for a globalizing world where people of disparate backgrounds all end up in the same room. ”
  • Cheryl Bear:
    13 Aug. 2020
    “ A moving and fascinating exchange as a forbidden relationship explores some deeper territory than they may have been prepared for. A question of intentions and our knowledge of who the other is. Powerful and well done. ”
  • Nick Malakhow:
    28 Oct. 2019
    “ A well-paced, taut, intimate drama. Snider's eye towards the intersectionally challenging dynamics at play here--race, ethnicity, sexuality--make for complex and meaty scenes. This plugs along at an always engrossing simmer until reaching a sudden (and well-earned) boiling point. ”
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Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Signature Theatre SigWorks
    ,
    2019
  • Workshop
    ,
    PlayPenn
    ,
    2019
  • Workshop
    ,
    UCSD
    ,
    2017
  • Reading
    ,
    EST/Youngblood
    ,
    2015

Awards

Winner
,
The Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting
,
KCACTF
,
2016