Collected Plays

These plays, written over a period of 30 years, reflect the interests and preoccupations of the playwright during a time when her primary focus was on building a career as an actress. The historical and political backdrop is clear in three of the plays: In JOURNEY INTO THE WHIRLWIND, a one-woman play adapted from the memoirs of Eugenia Ginsburg, the protagonist is one of the millions of victims of the Stalinist terror. ON NAKED SOIL; IMAGINING ANNA AKHMATOVA deals with the life of one of Russia's great poets during that same period, and also in a later time frame, when the threat of labor camps and death seem safely in the past. And in WHAT ABOUT MIAMI, a more-or-less typical American family confronts the unexpected and disturbing consequences of the Cuban immigration to Miami in the year of the assassination of the American president.
In contrast to these plays, there are two one-act plays: MAMIE AND YVONNE and GUS AND EMILY. The first is a lighthearted comedy about two actresses (of a certain age) and a younger actor. The other looks at an old, once-noted American poet whose life as a recluse changes abruptly with the arrival of a young and awkward handyman.
Taken together, one can see that each of the women—in their sometime literal trials and domestic tribulations—manage to find the strength to confront, if not always to resolve, the daunting challenge.
Except for WHAT ABOUT MIAMI, these are plays with small casts and, significantly, with roles for older women.