For Your Consideration:
In the Suicide Mountains: A Village Fable
Adapted by James Still
from the novella by John Gardner
Music by Michael Keck
WiNNER of the 1997 PO'OKELA AWARD for BEST NEW PLAY
The Hawaii State Theatre Council
Originally Commissioned by the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum
Premiered by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth
Directed by Peter Brosius
In the Suicide Mountains was developed in part with the support of
New Visions/New Voices at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
In the Suicide Mountains was developed in part with the support of
theSundance Playwrights Laboratory.
1998 Productions include:
Florida Stage, Manalapan, FL
The Coterie, Kansas City, MO
The John F. Kennedy Center for the PerformingArts
Arizona State University
1999 Productions include:
The Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles
One Act. 60 minutes+. One flexible set. Minimum ensemble cast of seven.
An incredible journey of humor, heart and heroes. In the Suicide Mountains is a musical fable about three souls who are shunned for being different: Chudu the GoatMan, Armida the blacksmith's daughter, and Prince Christopher the violin-playing heir to the throne. These three stories weave in and out of each other, intertwining and finally overlapping when each character is pushed to the brink by pressures to conform to social, political and gender roles. Individually, Chudu, Armida and Prince Christopher head up into the mountains to jump. Once on the road, their paths not only intersect with each other and the dreaded 6-Finger Man -- they also come face-to-face with themselves. For this unlikely trio, doing battle with the 6-Fingered Man proves to be simple compared to finding the inner-courage needed to do battle with the truth about themselves.
Contact: James Still
633 Flower Avenue, #3 Venice, CA 90291
JStill@compuserve.commailto:JStill@compuserve.com
Adapted from In the Suicide Mountains by John Gardner
Used by permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc.
click here for a review of the play
updated on 23 April 1998