The School of Drama Producing Artist Laboratory at the University of Washington Presents IN THE BLOOD

The School of Drama Producing Artist Laboratory at the University of Washington will present IN THE BLOOD, a play written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by graduate M.F.A. directing students Kate Drummond and Nick O'Leary, Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 - Sunday, May 7th, 2023.

This production of In The Blood showcases first-year M.F.A. directors and designers and second-year M.F.A. actors. This is one of the earliest opportunities for these graduate students to work together in production.

"The Producing Artists Lab is a key part of our production season." "It provides laboratory-level production opportunities that can be tailored to specific student goals." "It is intended to showcase artists-in-training and may often include more exploratory, responsive, or experimental work". -Said Geoff Korf, Executive Director of the School of Drama. Audience members may see a wider range in the levels of production and exciting artistic risk-taking in these Lab productions.

In this modern-day riff on The Scarlet Letter, Hester La Negrita, a homeless mother of five, lives with her kids on the tough streets of the inner city. Her eldest child is teaching her how to read and write, but the letter "A" is, so far, the only letter she knows. Her five kids: Jabber, Bully, Trouble, Beauty, and Baby are played by adult actors who double as five other people in Hester's life: her ex-boyfriend, her social worker, her doctor, her best friend, and her minister. While Hester's kids fill her life with joy-lovingly comical moments amid the harsh world of poverty-the adults with whom she comes into contact only hold her back.