_______________________________________________________________________________________
Included are introductions to the 5 plays by Elizabeth
Becker, reporter for The New York Times and
Washington Post; David Scheffer, U.S.
Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues; Turkish
journalist Serap Erincin; Carol
Martin, series editor for “In Performance”;
and Chivy Sok, human rights educator/researcher
who writes.
“We live in a time where urgent actions are
required to deal with challenging human suffering
-- mass atrocities in Africa, unspeakable violence
inflicted on women in every corner of the world,
enslaved children, warfare, and other violent conflicts. Yet,
we are also numbed by the severity of these atrocities.
Filloux has never shied away from focusing on these
complex issues and has used her writings to address
them head on. Through her work, she challenges
the audience to become involved.”
This new release compiles in one volume five new
important plays that can be produced professionally
and in university environments, and used as teaching
tools for human rights and theater educators alike.
The plays are:
• Lemkin's House, 2W/3M,
winner of the PeaceWriting Award, is a surreal portrait of Raphael Lemkin,
the man who coined the word ‘genocide’. Highly recommended by The
New York Times.
• In The Beauty Inside,
3W/2M, Ms. Filloux places the audience in the midst of a culture war after
an attempted honor killing. The Village Voice called it “a drama whose
lyrical dialogue evokes the surprising ambivalence of this wrenching battle.”
• A Cambodian refugee woman suffers from psychosomatic blindness in Eyes
of the Heart, 4W/2M. "Thida is the heroine of Catherine Filloux's
'Eyes of the Heart,' a beautifully done one-act drama about the place where
horror and grief meet,” says The New York Times.
• America's complicity through the eyes of a journalist, at the end of
the Pol Pot leadership is the subject of Silence
of God, 1W/3M. The Washington Times calls it “A brave play,
with a compelling story to tell.”
• Mary and Myra, 2W, is
about one woman (Mary Todd Lincoln) damned by her reputation, saved by another
(Myra Bradwell) who was damned into obscurity. The Shepherdstown Chronicle
wrote, "Mary and Myra takes the audience hostage…a kind of séance,
a spellbinding recreation of lives that come toward us like torches lighting
the future."
About the Author: Catherine Filloux has been writing
plays about genocide, human rights, and social justice
for the past twenty years. Her plays and music theater
pieces have been produced in the U.S. and around
the world. Ms. Filloux’s awards include the
Roger L. Stevens Award (Kennedy Center), the Eric
Kocher Playwrights Award (O'Neill) and the Callaway
Award (New Dramatists). She has served extensively
as a speaker for human rights and theater organizations. |
