Ties That Bind: A Trio of One-Acts

A Note from the Director

"Drowning by Maria Irene Fornes is about being rejected on the basis of one’s outward appearance without any regard for the inner human. On Facebook by Doug Wright is about an online conversation concerning a human situation that has been politicized in America by politicians for political gain. It reminds us that if we lose sight of the human element of any issue, we inadvertently become enemies. The Sentinels by Matthew Lopez is about three women whose husbands were killed in the terrorist attack on New York City on September 11, 2001. The play explores how each of these women is coping and carrying an enormous legacy of loss. I chose these three one-acts because they are very contemporary American plays and they are all written by playwrights who are members of marginalized communities: women, people of color, first-generation immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community. In a pluralistic society, it is important for any theatre company to include and represent voices other than the mainstream. I also chose these three plays because they are all in one form or another about loss and its aftermath. They are also about how people treat each other during major crises. How we handle trauma. How we move on to survive and possibly even thrive. These are some of the issues we all have been grappling with during this long and painful Covid pandemic."

-Pirooz Aghssa