In The Blood
all photos by Kyler Martin, permission granted for use by the UW School of Drama
IN THE BLOOD
MAY 2023
produced by UW School of Drama
at the historic Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theater
by Suzan-Lori Parks
Act 2, directed by Kate Drummond
as part of the 2023 Producing Artists Lab
This modern day riff on The Scarlet Letter follows Hester La Negrita, a homeless mother of five. Her eldest child is teaching her how to read and write, but the letter “A” is, so far, the only letter she knows. Her five kids are named Jabber, Bully, Trouble, Beauty and Baby, and the characters are played by adult actors who double as five other people in Hester’s life: her ex-boyfriend, her social worker, her doctor, her best friend and her minister. While Hester’s kids fill her life with joy—lovingly comical moments amid the harsh world of poverty—the adults with whom she comes into contact only hold her back. Nothing can stop the play’s tragic end.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director: KATE DRUMMOND
Stage Manager: JIBRAN KARIM
Scenic Designer: DUMA DU
Lighting Designer: LANDON ELDER
Costume Designer: ANTONIO TORREZ
Sound Designer: KAMDEN CYKLER
“[I] was struck by what a challenging and complex piece it is. And how much it speaks to our contemporary moment here, sadly. [This] production brought out a lot of that to me and I really enjoyed it.”
“It’s a question: “Who are we to each other?”
People do not see how they are intimately and deeply connected, so revenge and
anger and violence run rampant. People do not see that when they harm the
person they think is the other, they are actually harming themselves.
Pointing your finger at someone else’s house is easy. I’m more interested in doing
work at home. We walk the hard road with these characters, and we grieve and
fall and stumble and get up and we look at ourselves and we see our faults.
Because we’ve all got a part in the bullshit.”
