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Familiar

  • Danai Gurira
  • Full Length Play, Comedy, New Millennium/21st Century
  • 3M, 5F
  • ISBN: 9780573705694

CRITIC'S PICK! "A fiercely funny new play [...] Ms. Gurira weaves issues of cultural identity and displacement, generational frictions and other meaty matters into dialogue that flows utterly naturally. Her engaging characters are drawn with sympathy."

The New York Times

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Comedy
  • 120 minutes

  • Time Period: New Millennium/21st Century
  • Target Audience: Adult
  • Cautions: Mild Adult Themes, Strong Language

  • Performance Group:
  • Community Theatre, Professional Theatre
Marvelous and Donald, Zimbabwean emigrants in Minnesota, are preparing for the marriage of their eldest daughter, Tendi. They have gracefully blended Zimbabwean culture alongside their American culture, but their house is turned upside down when Marvelous' sister comes from Zimbabwe to perform a very traditional wedding ceremony in which the groom barters for the bride. Tensions flare and identities clash as the family's fabric slowly unweaves and they are forced to take a hard look at who they truly are.

PLEASE NOTE: This play has a mandatory music fee of A$40.00 per performance.
REVIEWS:

CRITIC'S PICK! "A fiercely funny new play [...] Ms. Gurira weaves issues of cultural identity and displacement, generational frictions and other meaty matters into dialogue that flows utterly naturally. Her engaging characters are drawn with sympathy."

 The New York Times

"Familiar is a vigorous, fresh comedy-drama that ricochets from raw pathos to bawdy laughs, excavating deep cultural anxieties along the way. Gurira may not reinvent the family-secrets genre, but she makes it speak in musical new accents."

 Time Out New York

"A good old-fashioned comedy [...] Guiira has a gift not only for capturing the rhythm of a boisterous family gathering, but making the individual participants distinct, unique, and wholly human."

 TheaterMania

Premiere Production: Familiar premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT in January 2015 under the direction of Rebecca Taichman.

Characters

  • Casting: 3M, 5F
  • Casting Attributes: Role(s) for Black Actor(s)

  • MARVELOUS CHINYARAMWIRA (MAI TENDI) - an African woman in her mid sixties, matriarch
    MARGARET MUNYEWA (MAI TONGAI) - an African woman in her fifties, Marvelous' youngest sister
    DONALD CHINYARAMWIRA (BABA TENDI) - an African man in his mid sixties, Marvelous' husband
    NYASHA - American-Zimbabwean young woman, late 20s, Marvelous and Donald's youngest daughter
    TENDIKAYI - Marvelous and Donald's oldest daughter
    ANNE (MAI CARROL) - an African woman in her late sixties, Marvelous' eldest sister
    CHRIS - a Caucasian American man, Tendikayi's fiancé, mid thirties
    BRAD - a Caucasian American man, Chris' brother, mid thirties

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Familiar Script This is optional. Order Now

    Marvelous and Donald, Zimbabwean emigrants in Minnesota, are preparing for the marriage of their eldest daughter, Tendi. They have gracefully blended Zimbabwean culture alongside their American culture, but their house is turned upside down when Marvelous' sister comes from Zimbabwe to perform a very traditional wedding ceremony in which the groom barters for the bride. Tensions flare and identities clash as the family's fabric slowly unweaves and they are forced to take a hard look at who they truly are.

    		$24.95

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