Suzan-Lori Parks Directs Revision of Her Tense Drama The Book of Grace, Opening June 4 in Austin

By Adam Hetrick
04 Jun 2011

Suzan-Lori Parks
Suzan-Lori Parks
Photo by Stephanie Diani

Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks' explosive family drama The Book of Grace, about a diner waitress who journals her hopes and dreams, officially opens under the direction of the playwright June 4 at the Zach Theatre in Austin, TX.

The Texas premiere of the three-person drama represents a revised version of the play, which first premiered at the Public Theater Off-Broadway in spring 2010. The Zach production will ultimately represent the published edition of the play.

The Book of Grace began previews June 2 and will run through July 10. The principal cast includes Eugene Lee, Nadine Mozon and Shaun Patrick Tubbs.

The production has scenic and costume design by Michael Raiford, lighting design by Jason Amato, sound design by Antonio Garfias, video design by Colin Lowry and fight direction by Tina Gramann.

Here's how the Zach bills the work: "A South Texas family breaks through familial borders when a young man named Buddy is encouraged by his stepmother Grace to return home and reunite with his father Vet, a border patrol agent. The prodigal son confronts his father, and fences are erected as everyday life erupts into a battle for personal survival. At once fiercely intimate and explosive, this surprising and truly original play finds three people bound together by longing, passion and ambition."

Parks is a Pulitzer Prize winner for her play Topdog/Underdog, which was produced at The Public. Her other works include Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 8 & 9), Fucking A, 365 Days/365 Plays, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, The America Play, Venus, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World and In the Blood, among others. She is currently at work on a new adaptation of Porgy and Bess, which will debut at the American Repertory Theater this August starring Audra McDonald.

For tickets phone (512) 476-0541 or visit ZachTheatre.