The Red Letter Plays

The playwright who "has burst through every known convention to invent a new theatrical language, like a jive Samuel Beckett, while exploding American cultural myths and stereotypes along the way [John Heilpern, New York Observer and Vogue], " has written two haunting riffs on Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: In the Blood and Fucking A. Hester La Negrita of In the Blood is an unapologetic mother of five illegitimate children -- "my treasures, my five joys" -- who practices writing the alphabet to help herself to "one day get a leg up. The letter A is as far as she gets. Hester Smith of Fucking A works the only job available -- abortionist to the lower class, in order to save for a reunion picnic with her imprisoned son. Her branded A bleeds afresh every time a patient comes to see her. These are two mature, beautifully crafted, inventive and poetic plays by one of the most unique voices writing for the stage today.