Ohio State Murders

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Ohio State Murders

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  4w, 2m

This haunting, provocative mystery – the Broadway debut of legendary playwright Adrienne Kennedy – concerns a famous writer who returns to her alma mater to finally reveal the truth of what happened when she was a student there.

Image: 2022 Broadway Production (Richard Termine)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller
  • Suggested Use
    • Monologues
    • Scene Work
    • Competition or Audition Material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Senior

Details

Summary
Ohio State Murders explores the experiences of Suzanne Alexander, a fictional Black writer whose life both is, and is not, like her author's. When Suzanne enters Ohio State University in 1949, she has no idea what the supposed safe haven of academia holds in store. Years later, Suzanne returns to the university to talk about the violence in her writing. A dark mystery unravels. Adrienne Kennedy's play is an intriguing, unusual and chilling look at the destructiveness of racism in the U.S.
History
Ohio State Murders premiered at the Great Lakes Theater Festival on March 7, 1992, in a production directed by Gerald Freedman. On October 27, 2007, Theatre for a New Audience premiered the play off-Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street. Directed by Evan Yionoulis, the production featured LisaGay Hamilton, with Cherise Boothe, Kobi Libii, Aleta Mitchell, Julia Pace Mitchell and Saxon Palmer.
SUZANNE ALEXANDER (1949-1952) – The young writer as a student attending Ohio State from 1949 to 1950
SUZANNE ALEXANDER (Present) – A well-known black writer visiting Ohio State to give a talk on the imagery in her work
DAVID ALEXANDER – A law student she will marry
ROBERT HAMPSHIRE – An English professor at Ohio State
MRS. TYLER – Suzanne’s landlady
VAL – A friend
IRIS ANN – Suzanne’s roommate
MISS DAWSON – Head of the dorm
  • Time Period 1990s, 1950s
  • Setting 1949 to the early 1990s. Night.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes, Period Costumes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 75 Minutes
  • Cautions
    • Intense Adult Themes

Media

“Dream-like... not a mere monologue, but a complex drama.” – Variety

“Quietly hypnotic... leaves a lasting chill in the bones. [Adrienne Kennedy] is surely one of the finest living American playwrights.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

“Much of the pleasure of the play derives from Ms. Kennedy’s elliptical narrative form, which generates a good share of old-fashioned, nail-biting suspense.” – The New York Times

“Part murder mystery, part memoir, this one-act drama leads us delicately but intrepidly into an American heart of darkness.” – CurtainUp

“Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders could almost be mistaken for simple storytelling. A woman rises from a table, and for 55 minutes she recalls a vicious, race-related crime she endured 50 years ago. Ghosts of the past move around her, but she stands in the present, safe and free. Or so it seems. However, then and now fuse together, and the dream-like result is not a mere monologue, but a complex drama.” – Variety

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Photos

  • Ohio State Murders

    Image: 2022 Broadway Production (Richard Termine)

  • Ohio State Murders

    Image: 2022 Broadway Production (Richard Termine)

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

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Authors

Adrienne Kennedy

Award-winning playwright, lecturer and author Adrienne Kennedy was born in Pittsburgh in 1931 and attended Ohio State University. Her plays include Funnyhouse of a Negro (Obie Award, Petit Odeon directed by Jean Marie Serreau), June and Jean in Concert (Obie Award), Sun (Comm ...

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