Susan Yankowitz

Susan Yankowitz

Susan Yankowitz is a playwright and librettist. Among her plays are PHAEDRA IN DELIRIUM (winner of the QRL poetic play competition); TERMINAL and 1969 TERMINAL1996, collaborations with Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre (Drama Desk Playwright’s Award); A KNIFE IN THE HEART (O’Neill Conference winner); and NIGHT SKY, produced widely in the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, A-Z BOXES won the 2012 award for...
Susan Yankowitz is a playwright and librettist. Among her plays are PHAEDRA IN DELIRIUM (winner of the QRL poetic play competition); TERMINAL and 1969 TERMINAL1996, collaborations with Joseph Chaikin's Open Theatre (Drama Desk Playwright’s Award); A KNIFE IN THE HEART (O’Neill Conference winner); and NIGHT SKY, produced widely in the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, A-Z BOXES won the 2012 award for Best Ensemble Play in Ankara, Turkey; THUMBPRINT, her opera with Kamala Sankaram, premiered in the 2014 Prototype Festival in NYC; and SEVEN, a collaborative documentary play – www.seventheplay - has been translated into 27 languages and presented throughout the world. Her archive is held at Kent State and her perpetually out-of-date website is www.susanyankowitz.com.

Plays

  • The Thumbprint of Mukhtar Mai by Susan Yankowitz
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: women, education + 3 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama, political
    Keyword: women, education, violence, Rights, rape
    The monologue (about 25 minutes) is based on the extraordinary experience of Mukhtar Mai, a young peasant who was gang-raped in retribution for an alleged 'honor' crime committed by her little brother and became the first woman in Pakistan to bring her rapists to justice. With her settlement money, she built a school for girls in her village so that they would know their rights as citizens and never...
    The monologue (about 25 minutes) is based on the extraordinary experience of Mukhtar Mai, a young peasant who was gang-raped in retribution for an alleged 'honor' crime committed by her little brother and became the first woman in Pakistan to bring her rapists to justice. With her settlement money, she built a school for girls in her village so that they would know their rights as citizens and never have to endure the humiliation of signing their names with their thumbprints.
  • A-Z Boxes by Susan Yankowitz
    Cast: 
    7–30
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
    ·
    Keyword: ensemble
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, farce, musical, political
    Keyword: ensemble
    This is a true ensemble piece, a comedy with a dark undertow that utilizes a flexible cast (age, gender, race, number of performers), a modular set, and unusual opportunities for creative collaboration. Actors play many roles, transforming character from one scene to the next. Without a conventional plot, it deals with - what else? - boxes of every sort: physical, psychological and emotional, imposed, chosen...
    This is a true ensemble piece, a comedy with a dark undertow that utilizes a flexible cast (age, gender, race, number of performers), a modular set, and unusual opportunities for creative collaboration. Actors play many roles, transforming character from one scene to the next. Without a conventional plot, it deals with - what else? - boxes of every sort: physical, psychological and emotional, imposed, chosen, comfortable, constricting, personal, political, moral..

    Through a bizarrely circuitous route, the play was produced by a terrific ensemble company, Tiyatro 1112 Garaj in Ankara, Turkey, and won the 2012 prize for best ensemble play - see video clip below.
  • Under the Skin by Susan Yankowitz
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, fantasy, mystery/thriller, political
    In alternating scenes of hyper-realism and surrealism, a successful corporate lawyer attempts to recover his dimming idealism by defending a young homeless man accused of murdering a prostitute. As he becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, the boundaries between his life and that of his client become blurred and he finds himself trapped between conflicting ideas of moral and legal justice, and of...
    In alternating scenes of hyper-realism and surrealism, a successful corporate lawyer attempts to recover his dimming idealism by defending a young homeless man accused of murdering a prostitute. As he becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, the boundaries between his life and that of his client become blurred and he finds himself trapped between conflicting ideas of moral and legal justice, and of personal and political responsibility. There are no simple solutions for anyone in the world of this play. One chord is sounded and another vibrates. The sexual hatred and confusion at the core of the violent acts spill over into the lawyer's domestic life, affecting not only him but his wife and daughter, with startling results for all.
  • Under the Skin by Susan Yankowitz
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 2 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, political, young audiences
    .A successful corporate lawyer attempts to recover his dimming idealism by defending a young homeless man accused of murdering a prostitute. As he becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, the boundaries between his life and that of his client become blurred and he finds himself trapped between conflicting ideas of moral and legal justice, and of personal and political responsibility. There are no simple...
    .A successful corporate lawyer attempts to recover his dimming idealism by defending a young homeless man accused of murdering a prostitute. As he becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, the boundaries between his life and that of his client become blurred and he finds himself trapped between conflicting ideas of moral and legal justice, and of personal and political responsibility. There are no simple solutions for anyone in the world of this play. One chord is sounded and another vibrates. The sexual hatred and confusion at the core of the violent acts spill over into the lawyer's domestic life, affecting not only him but his wife and daughter, with startling results for all.