Joyce Van Dyke

Like the women of a later generation in the film "Hidden Figures," these women were hired as "computers" by the Harvard Observatory -- a job seen as women's work. But though they were hired "to work, not to think," in the words of the central character, Cecilia Payne, these women made revolutionary discoveries that proved transformative for astrophysics -- finding the key to how far away the stars are, and discovering what the stars are made of. This is the inspiring story of their struggle, passion, collaboration, and exciting discoveries -- and their fight for recognition. A timely, moving, funny and humane story that's suitable for all audiences.

In 2020, the University of Southern Maine commissioned an adaptation of the original full-length play into a 50-minute version that has been touring schools in Maine. For information about the touring version, contact Sara Valentine, [email protected].

Do women's lives matter? In this one-woman show, the charismatic human rights activist who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. Up at 4:00am, Julia Ward Howe is rehearsing a talk urging votes for women when she has a prophetic vision that's astonishingly apt for our national crisis today. Seeing American women living under tyranny, she prophesies that our country will lose its democracy if we allow it to remain an America for some of us, and not an America for all of us. www.Representationtheplay.com

In this time-shifting, dream-like play, two women use theatricality, storytelling and humor to remake the world of their fractured past. DAYBREAK is a lyrical story of two friends, survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide, who are transported with their families into the 21st century future. Inspired by the true stories of my Armenian grandparents, DAYBREAK is an intimate emotional story with epic political and cultural reverberations.

Amy, a 47-year-old petroleum geologist, fights to maintain a love triangle with two men - Rex, an actor and her longtime partner, and Aleksi, a young translator who works for her oil company. Her actions are challenged by both men, while Amy insists on her exploration of life and self. As the three of them fight for power, the conflict deepens psychologically and politically, and their personal struggle plays out against the climate crisis. The upheaval forces Amy and both men to confront the coming end of oil, love, time. What do we do when – as Amy says – “we’ve fallen in love with something we can’t have”?

A New York model goes home to a civil war of ethnic cleansing, after her brother is killed in Karabakh, an Armenian region in the Caucasus Mountains.

A Russian hotel maid in New York discovers a diamond earring on the floor while vacuuming a room. She calls her son downstairs to say she wants to give it to him, but while they're on the phone the earring's owner and her boyfriend walk into the room in search of it. Luckily, there are language barriers.

AMERICAN OTHELLO is inspired by the 1940s wartime production of OTHELLO starring Paul Robeson, José Ferrer, Uta Hagen (then married to Ferrer), and Margaret Webster who also directed the show and co-produced it along with Robeson. The first major production of the play in America with a multiracial cast, it changed theatre history, and upended the lives of all four actors. Now, a surprise reunion years later fans new flames.