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Br'er Cotton

A militant teenager grapples with politics and older relatives in Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s profound, devastating and very funny play.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Dark Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: Contemporary
  • Target Audience: Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult

  • Performance Group:
  • Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups
Lynchburg, Virginia. The former site of a thriving cotton mill is now an impoverished neighborhood. Deeply affected by all the recent killings of young black men like himself, Ruffrino, a 14-year-old militant, incites riots at school and online. As Ruffrino grows more and more at odds with his mother and grandfather, his anger builds beyond containment. Meanwhile, the family home literally sinks into the cotton field, and no one but Ruffrino seems to notice.
REVIEWS:

"An important play, and a great one, that will leave audiences thinking for a long time."

 The Guardian

"Powerful... Chisholm’s writing is light and naturalistic when it needs to be, but also shot through with knotty and impassioned poetry."

 Time Out London

"The script is bold, brave and very, very funny, as well as feeling impressively fast-paced for a production that runs for two hours and 15 minutes."

 The Guardian

"Extraordinary... an intricate consideration of the complexities of present-tense race relations."

 WhatsOnStage

"Painful and highly personal... But it’s funny, too. Laugh-out-loud funny. The writing doesn’t shy away from life’s absurdity and ironies."

 Exeunt Magazine

Premiere Production: Br’er Cotton made its world premiere as part of National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere initiative, opening in three NNPN Member Theaters in 2017: Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Texas (June 9), Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles, California (September 23) and Cleveland Public Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio (March 29). The play made its London premiere at Theatre 503 on March 7, 2018.

Characters

  • Casting: 3M, 2F
  • Casting Attributes: Role(s) for Black Actor(s)

  • RUFFRINO / SON – 14, M, Black
    NADINE / MOTHER – Early 30's, F, Black
    MATTHEW / GRANDFATHER – 60's, M, Black
    CAGED_BIRD99 – 14, F, White
    OFFICER – Mid 30's, M, White
    REDNECK_SWAG – Disembodied white voice

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Br'er Cotton Script This is optional. Order Now

    Lynchburg, Virginia. The former site of a thriving cotton mill is now an impoverished neighborhood. Deeply affected by all the recent killings of young black men like himself, Ruffrino, a 14-year-old militant, incites riots at school and online. As Ruffrino grows more and more at odds with his mother and grandfather, his anger builds beyond containment. Meanwhile, the family home literally sinks into the cotton field, and no one but Ruffrino seems to notice.

    		$24.95

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