Thursday, April 23, 2009

SUZAN-LORI PARKS JOINS CAST OF HER PLAY


Famed playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks, will star in the world premiere of her play, "Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 8 & 9)," bowing at the Public in June.

The show, part of the Off Broadway theater's developmental Public LAB series, will be helmed by Jo Bonney.

In "Father," Parks will guide the aud through the play's multimedia story about slavery, freedom, war and family. First part focuses on a Civil War-era slave named Penny, while parts eight and nine center on a poet-general in the present day, according to THR.

The play has the same title as a series of short works that were part of the scribe's "365 Days/365 Plays" but is otherwise unrelated.

A LAB offering from Parks, who picked up a 2002 Pulitzer for her play "Topdog/Underdog," was announced earlier this year, although no title, plot or cast was given.

Parks fills the master writer chair at the Public, which has produced Parks plays including "Topdog," "Venus" and "Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom," among others.

"Father" runs June 5-28.