Photo by Matthew J. Lee
Melinda Lopez is a Cuban-American playwright, actress, and educator. She earned a B.A from Dartmouth College, received a M.A in Playwriting from Boston University, and was the first playwright-in-residence at The Huntington Theatre Company as part of the Mellon Foundation’s National Playwright Residency Program. Among her many accomplishments, she is perhaps best known for her award winning play Sonia Flew - a moving examination of family dynamics, and coming to terms with one's past. Outside of her playwriting, Melinda has also served on a variety of panels for the City of Boston, the NEA, and the Cambridge Arts Panel. She was also Drama Editor for the Penguin Anthology for Literature, Pearson (Publication date: 2016). Currently, Melinda teaches playwriting at Boston University, and theatre and performance at Wellesley College. She can be seen in her award winning one women show, Mala, at The Huntington Theatre Company in January 2018.
Summary
Back The Night is a story about the ongoing, rampant sexual assaults taking place on college campuses across the country and how we respond to and address them. The story centers on three students: Cassie, Em and Sean. One night Sean brings Cassie, who’s bleeding from the head, over to Em’s room. Cassie explains that she was hit in the head from behind while walking near a fraternity. In response, they file a report and Cassie posts a video on her blog addressing it. This attracts a lot of attention to Cassie’s experience and she soon finds herself organizing a march involving her fellow students, the Dean of the university, and even a local politician (Em's mom). However, as more information comes out about the incident, Em realizes there are some discrepancies in Cassie’s story. As Em tries to comes to terms with her own assault, she confronts Cassie about what really happened. In the end, Cassie neither denies nor affirms the truth of her story.
How can this play be used?
In the classroom, Back The Night can be used in many ways. For instance, it could be used in a class to address tough subjects like consent, assault, and how we treat victims. It could also be used to look at the Take Back The Night movement as part of a History class, leading into a unit on the history of women’s movements in America.
Sample Audience
This play would be great for juniors and seniors in high school because they are at the age where they might soon find themselves navigating the themes and situations in this play.
Sample Activities
These activities can be used for character analysis and to help students address how they can be supportive allies to victims of assault.
Before reading the play:
After reading the play:
Discussion Questions
(Published by Dramatists Play Service)
Summary
After the events of 9/11, Sonia’s son, Zak, decides to leave college and enlist in the military without consulting his parents. Despite her love for him, Sonia struggles to support her son’s decision to go overseas and fight because of her own personal experiences growing up in and leaving Cuba. As a child, her parents put her on a plane to the US with the promise of returning home - something she swore never to forgive them for - and on that same day her father was taken in for questioning by the government, never to be seen again, and her mother walked into the ocean. As a result, Sonia never returned to Cuba and lost not only her country but everyone she loved, which causes her to worry about her son.
How can this play be used?
Sonia Flew is a great play to explore in an educational setting and could be used to examine how a politically charged environment and society can have temporary or lasting effects on society and individuals. It would also be a good play to study Cuban history, the Revolution, and the ways in which historical events can be perceived differently through different lenses.
Summary
1978 - Gary, Indiana. Tommy, Annie and Mark are typical teenage siblings with a passion for music. Tommy is the oldest and feels obligated to keep his family safe after their dad left them. Every night when Tommy gets home he checks on Annie sleeping in her bedroom. One morning Annie accuses Tommy of sexually assaulting her in her sleep. Tommy denies it. Tommy plans to leave Gary but won’t until he talks with his sister one last time. During this conversation it comes out that their dad assaulted Annie when she was younger, and that it wasn’t Tommy who had assaulted her that night but Mark.
How can this play be used?
Given the adult topics and themes in Gary, it would best be explored in an applied theatre setting. It could be used to address how we deal with reporting sexual assault and abuse, believing victims, and rape culture in our society. It can also be used to explore themes around family dynamics and how we are not just a product of our surroundings but have agency over our future and who we are.
Photo from Becoming Cuba
Photo from Caroline in Jersey
Photo from Mala / Photo by Paul Marotta
Web page compiled by Kaitlin Quinn (2017)