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Curt is a small-town cop in the Midwest; Sandy is the nineteen-year-old prostitute he first tries to arrest, then attempts to help, at the cost of his badge. What Rebecca Gilman makes of this familiar scenario is something startlingly real and compelling, delving deeply into the small space that can divide a feeling of hope from one of hopelessness, as Curt and Sandy both try to get a foothold in the American dream of a house, a job, a life, a relationship with another human being.
Gilman's previous play,
Boy Gets Girl, was acclaimed by
Time magazine as the best play of 2000, saying that "with
Spinning into Butter, her play about race relations on campus, Rebecca Gilman gave notice that she was a playwright to watch. And with this intense drama of a woman's encounter with a stalker, she became one to hail . . . It's not just a gripping play but also an important one." Marked by Gilman's characteristically sharp delineation of character, pitch-perfect dialogue, and effortless use of humor that is both biting and silly,
Blue Surge is a worthy successor to these plays--an intimate look at the class struggle in America today as well as a brilliant example of the dramatic craft from one of today's most accomplished practitioners. It will have its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in the spring of 2001.
About the author
Rebecca Gilman is the author of the play The Glory of Living, which received the 1998 American Theater Critics Association's Osborn Award. She is the recipient of the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the George Devine Award, the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the Scott McPherson Award, and an Illinois Arts Council playwriting fellowship. A native of Alabama, Ms. Gilman lives in Chicago, Illinois.
