Aphasia, A Play in Verse
Written and performed by Marc J. Straus
Directed by Mara Mills
Stage production by Jeremy Gratt
Location:
The Studio Theater in Exile
1701 Main Street
Peekskill, NY 10566
November 14-16. Friday 7:00, Saturday 7 :00 Sunday 3:00.
Tickets: Friday with after performance Q and A and reception $35. Saturday and Sunday $30 general admission and $25 seniors, students, MOCA members
Dora Straus awakens in an E.R. with a massive stroke with paralysis on her right side and aphasia; she understands everything but cannot make herself understood. At age 76 she graduated college as a valedictorian. Dora, a tough, brilliant, competitive, opiniated disciplinarian, now faces the world soundless, and totally dependent. In this play in verse written by her eldest son, Marc, she takes full stock of her life. It is at times sad, funny, angry, and above all honest.
Marc J. Straus, the author, also assumes the role of Dora. He has channeled Dora’s story through these poignant soliloquies and in so doing he speaks for her. As Eleanor Wilner (recipient of a MacArthur Award for poetry) writes, in this “wonderfully rich, idiosyncratic portrait in a convincing, living voice the Dora of these soliloquies comes strongly alive… an act of respect and homage to her and her life … and also to create a requiem.”
Marc J. Straus is a renowned poet with four collections, three from TriQuarterly Northwestern University Press. His poems have appeared in most of the leading literary journals including The Kenyon Review and Ploughshares. He is the recipient of numerous awards including The Robert Penn Warren Annual Award Lecture in the Humanities from Yale, and a residency at Yaddo. Marc is a former Chairman of Oncology and Professor of Medicine. In 2011 he opened MARC STRAUS, a gallery in New York City. He and his wife Livia are leading art collectors and in 2001 founded Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill, NY.
APHASIA is his second play. NOT GOD has been performed in theaters across the US including Off Broadway and Studio Theater in Exile.
About ArtsWestchester
Founded in 1965, ArtsWestchester is New York State’s largest private not-for-profit arts council. The leading funder and advocate for the arts in Westchester and Rockland Counties, ArtsWestchester works to create an equitable, inclusive, vibrant and sustainable community in which the arts are integral to and integrated into every facet of life. Building on its 60-year legacy, ArtsWestchester advances arts and culture by providing grants, bringing artists into schools and community centers, advocating for the arts, and building audiences through diverse marketing initiatives. ArtsWestchester enriches the lives of everyone in the community and operates a multi-use gallery and home for the arts at 31 Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains, New York.