. . . unpredictable, compelling, funny, feminist theater . . .
Sorry.
In the physical theater world of Sorry., unwarranted apologizing takes a toll. Three women teeter - literally? metaphorically? - at the end of their rope … until three mythical Furies, who orchestrate the play, rescue them and confront each woman with her life choices.
. . . THE PLAYERS . . .
THE WOMEN:
FRANCINE: a lawyer in present day, ignores the harassment of a female colleague and reveals she has murdered her own husband, Carl
LILLIAN: from the 19th Century, terminates pregnancies with plants from her garden, until she’s institutionalized by her husband, Franklin, for being a lesbian.
PERSEPHONE: of Ancient Greek mythology, has breast cancer when she’s on Earth, and lives with domestic violence in the Underworld.
THE FURIES: central to the narrative, The Furies orchestrate the play while attempting to resolve their own conflict with Athena who stripped them of their power to exact vengeance and made them minions of Hades.
THE MEN: One actor plays a variety of men. In a reversal of the commonplace gratuitous nudity expected of female performers, he is costumed from the waist up, and appears naked below. He is a device, but not without an opinion about it.
FRANCINE: a lawyer in present day, ignores the harassment of a female colleague and reveals she has murdered her own husband, Carl
LILLIAN: from the 19th Century, terminates pregnancies with plants from her garden, until she’s institutionalized by her husband, Franklin, for being a lesbian.
PERSEPHONE: of Ancient Greek mythology, has breast cancer when she’s on Earth, and lives with domestic violence in the Underworld.
THE FURIES: central to the narrative, The Furies orchestrate the play while attempting to resolve their own conflict with Athena who stripped them of their power to exact vengeance and made them minions of Hades.
THE MEN: One actor plays a variety of men. In a reversal of the commonplace gratuitous nudity expected of female performers, he is costumed from the waist up, and appears naked below. He is a device, but not without an opinion about it.
. . . THE STORY . . .
The Furies deliver The Women to a seemingly ordinary café. But an upside-down world, ruled by a waiter, is revealed. No matter what the women order, he serves them tea and cake. Initially strangers, the women discover they have one thing in common – they can no longer say, “I’m sorry,” unless they mean it.
The Furies transport each woman to an absurd version of her world where they drink tea in lockstep, lie in a pile on the floor, get a mammogram, are surrounded by a sea of men's pants, and pay a visit to the Underworld.
The play is cyclical. The opening scene of desperation, as The Women teeter on chairs, hanging from beautiful yellow ribbons, repeats until there's resolution. Or is there?
The Furies transport each woman to an absurd version of her world where they drink tea in lockstep, lie in a pile on the floor, get a mammogram, are surrounded by a sea of men's pants, and pay a visit to the Underworld.
The play is cyclical. The opening scene of desperation, as The Women teeter on chairs, hanging from beautiful yellow ribbons, repeats until there's resolution. Or is there?
. . . SYNOPSIS . . .
Sorry. proposes a new world order where only a sincere apology can be uttered
Sorry. proposes a new world order where only a sincere apology can be uttered
Sorry. features three women “of a certain age” from different centuries, a chorus of Furies, and a variety of men played by one actor, who appears naked from the waist down – a reversal of the gratuitous nudity often expected of female performers.
Upon arrival in a cafe, we meet:
Present-day Francine - a lawyer who has been looking the other way from the harassment of a female colleague, and has murdered her own husband.
19th century Lillian - who has been terminating pregnancies with herbs and is fleeing institutionalization for being a lesbian.
Persephone, the goddess of Ancient Greece - who has learned she has breast cancer while she’s on Earth, and lives with domestic violence in the Underworld.
Three mythical Furies - who orchestrate the events of the play, reflecting these women to themselves, championing their power, and questioning their participation in their own oppression.
When the three women meet across time, they are rendered incapable of saying, “I’m sorry” unless they truly mean it. Sorry. challenges the many ways women defer, adapt, comply, and apologize in a man’s world. Diving down the rabbit hole of the female apology, Sorry. examines the ease and frequency with which women apologize, and the shorthand/underlying code it has become. Sorry. offers the audacious and radical premise that two simple words, “I’m sorry” have to power to undermine a woman’s sense of self, her power, her place in the world.
While Sorry. demonstrates the overt and subversive ways women continue to be silenced and controlled, men are not the only oppressors. Sorry. also reveals the subtle ways women participate in their own oppression, and that of each other through competitive behavior, looking the other way, and gate-keeping.
Upon arrival in a cafe, we meet:
Present-day Francine - a lawyer who has been looking the other way from the harassment of a female colleague, and has murdered her own husband.
19th century Lillian - who has been terminating pregnancies with herbs and is fleeing institutionalization for being a lesbian.
Persephone, the goddess of Ancient Greece - who has learned she has breast cancer while she’s on Earth, and lives with domestic violence in the Underworld.
Three mythical Furies - who orchestrate the events of the play, reflecting these women to themselves, championing their power, and questioning their participation in their own oppression.
When the three women meet across time, they are rendered incapable of saying, “I’m sorry” unless they truly mean it. Sorry. challenges the many ways women defer, adapt, comply, and apologize in a man’s world. Diving down the rabbit hole of the female apology, Sorry. examines the ease and frequency with which women apologize, and the shorthand/underlying code it has become. Sorry. offers the audacious and radical premise that two simple words, “I’m sorry” have to power to undermine a woman’s sense of self, her power, her place in the world.
While Sorry. demonstrates the overt and subversive ways women continue to be silenced and controlled, men are not the only oppressors. Sorry. also reveals the subtle ways women participate in their own oppression, and that of each other through competitive behavior, looking the other way, and gate-keeping.
. . . THEMES . . .
It’s (still) a Man’s World
Women Undermining Women
Aging and Beauty: the value of a woman past her prime
Abortion
Breast Cancer
The Female Apology