Drama/ 3 Characters, 2 Women, 1 Man/ One Act
Synopsis: A cross between Sartre’s No Exit and Genet’s The Balcony, the world of Syllogism centers around three troubled souls who are compelled to perpetually revisit the tragic situations and circumstances surrounding their institutionalization.
Arlene is the anal-retentive executive of the den — irascible and given to strike at a moment’s notice. She wields her intellectual prowess like a weapon, mercilessly ridiculing her fellow companions with lethal word play. Leonardo — the big-hearted man-child hopelessly in love and desperately in need of courage — spends most of his time trying to clear the damage in his head left by an abusive childhood. And then there’s Jessica — the affable teenager carrying an overwhelming burden that will continue to haunt her the rest of her life. Her role as a mediator of the Group both calms and provokes the others into action. The three find themselves inexplicably tied to one another’s criminal past. Through desperation and despondency, they gather each day for a series of scatological free associative banter that belies a much deeper psychosis.
Contact information: Amateur and professional rights:
La-Tonia Denise Willis
1212 Queen Anne Ave. N., #602
Seattle, WA
USA 98109 E-mail:latonw@msn.com
About the Playwright: La-Tonia Denise Willis went to Bard College and Fordham University, with a discipline in Comparative Literature. She also studied creative writing at Seattle Central Community College, and Digital Video at 911 Media Arts, a Seattle Film collective. Most recently, she was a finalist in the San Jose State University Writer’s Fellowship program.
Syllogism was first produced by The Theatre-Studio, Inc., New York City, in May, 2004.