A Dark Wood

by Eric Coble

Earthworm squats in a no-man's land trying to get across the river.
Lightning Bug sits in a boarded up apartment secretly reading novels with a fugitive.
Armadillo stands in her police body armor explaining why she betrayed herself and everything she stood for.
“A Dark Wood” is the story of three members of a shattered family, each in a very different corner of a society in free-fall. The play is divided into...

Earthworm squats in a no-man's land trying to get across the river.
Lightning Bug sits in a boarded up apartment secretly reading novels with a fugitive.
Armadillo stands in her police body armor explaining why she betrayed herself and everything she stood for.
“A Dark Wood” is the story of three members of a shattered family, each in a very different corner of a society in free-fall. The play is divided into three acts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Each act features a different style and rhythm of storytelling - all building to a desperate faith in humanity and art in the face of corrosive collapse.

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A Dark Wood

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: A Dark Wood

    A powerful look into a frightening world as these characters as they find themselves in places they didn't expect to make sense of it all. Well done.

    A powerful look into a frightening world as these characters as they find themselves in places they didn't expect to make sense of it all. Well done.

  • Nick Malakhow: A Dark Wood

    A deeply upsetting, beautifully structured, and wonderfully rich play! The theatrical world that Coble creates here is so fully realized. I'm amazed at how deftly rendered this dystopian world is with just the words of a few well-chosen characters with no clunky exposition. Each part is a compelling theatrical unit on its own and, stitched together, they create a powerful parable about social upheaval, loyalty, government distrust, political discord, violence, authoritarianism, and anti-intellectualism. This would be a meaty play for actors to sink their teeth into, and designers/directors...

    A deeply upsetting, beautifully structured, and wonderfully rich play! The theatrical world that Coble creates here is so fully realized. I'm amazed at how deftly rendered this dystopian world is with just the words of a few well-chosen characters with no clunky exposition. Each part is a compelling theatrical unit on its own and, stitched together, they create a powerful parable about social upheaval, loyalty, government distrust, political discord, violence, authoritarianism, and anti-intellectualism. This would be a meaty play for actors to sink their teeth into, and designers/directors would no doubt love to create this moody, atmospheric reality.

  • Ann Filmer: A Dark Wood

    WOW!!!!! One play. Three parts. Part one: 2 kids in the Moth trying to escape their country (our country?) I love these two kids. I was leaning in every moment. Part Two, Vivian, an old schoolteacher hiding out. The Termites are the intellectuals and they are persecuted by the Shadow Justice. The cops are in charge. This is a scary, dystopian, paranoid, violent and distrustful world and a warning to us. Part Three was totally surprising yet completely earned. An excellent story that can only be done on the stage. Political and personal, this play has it all.

    WOW!!!!! One play. Three parts. Part one: 2 kids in the Moth trying to escape their country (our country?) I love these two kids. I was leaning in every moment. Part Two, Vivian, an old schoolteacher hiding out. The Termites are the intellectuals and they are persecuted by the Shadow Justice. The cops are in charge. This is a scary, dystopian, paranoid, violent and distrustful world and a warning to us. Part Three was totally surprising yet completely earned. An excellent story that can only be done on the stage. Political and personal, this play has it all.

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Awards

  • National Showcase of New Plays
    National New Play Network
    Finalist
    2018
  • Theatre Lab
    Sundance Insitute
    Finalist
    2018