Why
I was reading a lot about science and how we come to learn things about the world, and kept hitting on the notion of causality. People were interested in establishing causality—finding a way to show that one thing led to another. In this play I wanted to take apart the idea of causality, play around with it a little, see what happens when it’s not so easy to figure out what led one thing to happen and not the other.
What
Characters: 2 women, 3 men
Running Time: 100 minutes
Summary: This full-length drama focuses on ideas of cause and effect, questioning whether one thing really does lead to another. The problem is seen through the eyes, words, and deeds of five characters whose lives interact and react. Set in a contemporary city the play looks at love, childhood, superstition, ego, and the many ways that we try to explain why and how a thing has happened.
Recognition:
• Winner of the Oglebay Institutes 2006 National Playwriting Contest
• Winner of the Source Theater’s 2004 Washington Theater Festival Literary Prize
When & Where
Availability: Available for performance.
Production History:
• Produced at the Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre, January 2007
• Received a Public Reading at the Abingdon Theatre Company, New York, NY, March 2007
• Received Workshop at the Playwrights Forum, Washington, DC, 2006
More about the show
Set in a contemporary city, the play follows a professor who is losing touch with his best student, his mistress, and his intellectual foundation. We follow each of the characters through a 24 hour period, watching as their lives interact and react and they try to discover the real link between cause and effect.
