Plays For New Audiences Reveals New Title, MESMERIZED A Ben Franklin Science and History Mystery by Suzanne Maynard Miller

 Plays for New Audiences (PNA), the script licensing division for the Tony Award-winning® Children’s Theatre Company has announced the availability of Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science and History Mystery by Suzanne Maynard Miller. Mesmerized premiered in fall 2023 at Chicago Children’s Theatre, and is based on the book Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved A Mystery that Baffled All of France by Mara Rockliff.

“We always love the work created by our partners at Chicago Children’s Theatre, but this one is especially electrifying!” said Karli Twedten, Director of Plays for New Audiences. “Suzanne expertly puts a modern spin on a historical tale while incorporating the scientific method, S.T.E.M, and critical thinking skills.”

“Mermerized is an imaginative adventure story that combines mystery, history, the scientific method, and the fight for female equality to bring its story to vivid life,” said Children’s Theatre Company Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius. “Quick witted and filled with surprises, you will never think of Benjamin Franklin the same way again!”

“A goal of any playwright is to reach the widest possible audience,” said Suzanne Maynard Miller. “Because PNA excels at bringing new work to new audiences, it is thrilling and an honor to have them championing Mesmerized!”

Through fabulous storytelling and fast-paced comedy, Ben Franklin and his want-to-be-inventor niece, Sarah, travel to France where they use the Scientific Method to test a mystical man’s magical cure-all in Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science and History Mystery. Kids will laugh as they engage their minds to solve this mystery, fueled with stories about Ben Franklin’s many scientific discoveries and electrifying inventions.

The World Premiere of Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science and History Mystery took place at Chicago Children’s Theatre.

About Suzanne Maynard Miller

Suzanne Maynard Miller is an award-winning writer whose work has been seen in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Singapore, Hong Kong, and throughout the UK.
 

Aside from Mesmerized, other projects include the musical stage adaptation of David McKee’s Elmer (with composer Allison Leyton-Brown); Leo Lionni’s Frederick (with composers Sarah Durkee and Paul Jacobs, “Distinguished Play Award,” American Alliance for Theatre & Education, 2016); and the musical stage adaptation of the popular children’s book series Pete the Cat (with composer Allison Leyton-Brown).
 

Miller is the Chair of the English Department at the New York City College of Technology/CUNY. In the past, she has taught writing and theater courses at Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and Hunter College/CUNY. In addition, Miller has been an artist-in-residence in the Seattle, Providence, and New York City public schools, and in the Adult Correctional Institution in Rhode Island.

After graduating from University of Pennsylvania, Miller was an original company member of Annex Theater in Seattle, and went on to receive her MFA in playwriting from Brown University.
 

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