About
the Play:
Cincinnati is a full-length drama by Don Nigro. A
lecture on the philosophy of literature quickly becomes a woman's
brave and desperate battle against the demons only she can see.
Compelling heartbreaking and courageous. Cincinnati by Don
Nigro is a brilliant examination of a woman struggling to control
her own mind.
Cincinnati is a complex and terrifying play about a woman
who has embraced the illusion of central position. Susan is a
university professor in philosophy of literature. The audience is her
university class. Cincinnati explores the lecturer's
increasing inability to differentiate between her theories and the
reality she's trying to escape. She believes she is the centre of the
universe, that when she moves from one location it is disassembled by
evil demons and reassembled elsewhere, and that the universe exists
simply to torment her, distract her from the true nature of things,
and give her as much pain as possible. Powerful, funny, disturbing
and disorienting, this monologue stretches one actress to the limit
of her abilities and takes theatre to the edge of madness.
Cincinnati premiered in 1981 at Indiana State University in
Terre Haute, Indiana. The play subsequently won Fringe First and
Spirit of the Fringe awards at the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival,
and Best of Fringe at the 2004 Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia,
and later toured in England and Wales.
Cast: 1 female
What people say:
"...a frighteningly powerful
monologue... As a portrait of madness, this show is as
heartbreakingly convincing as any I have ever seen... energizing,
pulsating with life, and often very, very funny...." — The
Scotsman
"A beautifully structured
poetic exploration of madness." — The List
"In turns heartbreaking and
hilarious...a superbly written tragic-comic one-hander...a viciously
witty existential fugue..." — The Adelaide
Advertiser
The collection Cincinnati and other plays also includes
four more monologues by Don Nigro. The plays include:
Nightmare with Clocks: An antique dealer has a haunting
series erotic dreams which begin to intrude into his daily life. He
finds the clock filled mansion that haunts his nightmares and makes a
desperate attempt to get to the girl in his dream. This funny,
frightening and strangely romantic play was produced by the Triangle
Theatre Company in New York. (Cast: 1 male)
Captain Cook: The young widow of Captain Cook, the famous
explorer who was murdered on a beach in Hawaii, goes through a trunk
of her husband's possessions and relives his life through them. Mrs. Cook tells us what happened to her eccentric explorer-husband, up to and including his cannibalization in Hawaii. A
play about outer and inner investigations into truth, love and
betrayal. (Cast: 1 female)
The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines is a series of monologues that offer funny and
compelling investigations into how to survive as a minor character. They may be done separately as a solo show by 1 female or together by a 5 female ensemble:
•
In Dead Men's Fingers Ophelia talks about what was really
going on at Elsinor and about her impossible position as the smartest
person in a world of passion driven characters.
• Axis
Sally finds an unhappily married woman playing Ophelia in a
workshop. Her identification with the character's frustration is
intensified by her friendship with an old woman playing Lady Macbeth
and with a caged animal, Martin Fisher Martin.
• In How
Many Children Had Lady Macbeth? an actress tells of her obsessive
quest to play Lady Mac, of the disastrous productions she's starred
in, and how being an actress has made her desperate to play her
favourite role for the children she will never have.
• Notes
from the Moated Grange finds a minor character from an obscure
Shakespearean play awaiting her beloved. She speculates on the nature
of obsessive love and the difficulties of playing one's assigned
role.
• Full Fathom Five proves that Prospero's
captivating daughter is much livelier than we have been led to
believe.
What people say about The Girlhood
of Shakespeare's Heroines:
"Funny.... Plays delightful
games with language.... A great showcase for young talent."
— Cleveland Plain Dealer
"This is theatre of ideas that
assume flesh and blood because the characters are so strong, so
indelible and filled with sly humor." — Akron Beacon
Journal
About the Playwright:
Don Nigro is a prolific American playwright with over 400
works touching on a wide variety of themes including murder mysteries
(the Inspector
Ruffing series), American history (the Pendragon County
plays), Russian life and culture, art and artists, and more. His work
has been produced around the world and translated into ten languages.
He has twice been a finalist for the National Repertory Theatre
Foundation's National Play Award, and has won a Playwriting
Fellowship Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as
grants from the Ohio Arts Council.