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Current Work
HOW CISSY GREW:
In WV, a baby girl is abducted then swiftly returned. Cissy is so young when it happens that she can't remember but still, the legacy of those few terrible days haunts her family for the next twenty years.
Though she has no proof, Darla, Cissy's pot-smoking bartender mom, blames Butch, her former football star boyfriend and Cissy's father, for the abduction. She's convinced he was stoned and lying to her about what actually happened. Her constant accusations push Butch into a life of twelve-stepping, self-righteous holy roller-ism.
While her parents fight over how best to raise her, Cissy grows up to become a sexually promiscuous, fearless and sometimes callous young woman with a penchant for her mom's stash and innocent boys. When she becomes pregnant at fourteen, her family implodes, leaving Cissy and Darla clinging to the past while Butch chases after a more promising future.
How Cissy Grew is a non-linear drama exploring defining moments in one family's life as they struggle to stay together in the face of guilt, blame and addiction. The plays asks the question: Did Cissy grow up a woman created by her abduction or a woman created by her parents?
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Short Bio
Susan Johnston is a five-time published playwright who completed her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she received the Harry Kondoleon Playwriting Award. Her plays have been produced and/or read at Mill Mountain, City Lights Youth Theatre, The Jungle, Centenary Stage, The O’Neill, The Peter Norton Space, The Lark, The Echo, MTS, NADA, La MaMa, Provincetown Playhouse, Pine View Drama League, etc.
She’s received a MacDowell Colony residency, a Jerome Fellowship and was a Fulbright nominee. She has been the recipient of an NEA grant, a MN State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant, a WV State Arts Grant and The Pilgrim Project Grant. She’s been a finalist for The Chesterfield, The McKnight, The Princess Grace and The Nicholl Fellowships.
Susan has worked as a film industry reporter for Interview magazine and was an interstitial writer for A&E’s popular Biography series. She is deeply honored to have worked with legendary Broadway producer Marty Richards (Chicago, Cabaret) developing shows for the Broadway stage and television. Her first novel PARTY FAVORS is on the shelves now.
Her plays are available through Brooklyn Publishers, Heinemann Drama and Eldridge Publishing.
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Honors
2002/03 Jerome Fellow, Recipient of Pilgrim Project Grant, NEA Grant, MN State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant, Harry Kondoleon Graduate Award in Playwriting, Alternate - McKnight Advancement Grant |
Union Affiliations/Professional Organizations
Dramatists Guild
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Contact
Maura Teitelbaum
Abrams Artists Agency, NY
275 7th Avenue, 26th floor
New York, NY 10001
646.486.4600 |
Artist Location
Los Angeles, CA
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Art forms
Theater, Literary
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Type of artist
Writer
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General Themes
Sexuality, Feminism/Gender Issues, Activism/Social Justice, Children/Youth, Mass Media/Pop Culture |
Keywords
Politics, West Virginia |
| Last updated on October 3rd, 2008 |
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