Casandra Medley

Full Length, Drama

4 f., 1 m.

Var. ints.

Is Ma Rose, the aging matriarch of a Midwestern African American family, senile? She considers her wandering mind and her contact with ancestors an opportunity to gain wisdom and make amends. Her daughter and son want to take over the family dynasty, but Ma Rose furiously defends her independence. Her favorite granddaughter Rosa is caught in the battle of wills when she is called home from New York, where she is a successful executive, to help convince Ma Rose to accept intervention. Ultimately, Ma Rose is awakened to the nostalgia of old memories and confronted with the haunting secrets of her childhood and her family's wounded past. Rosa emerges from the trauma with renewed strength and a legacy of love.

"Tells the story of three generations of black American women in a specific, funny, moving and refreshingly non doctrinaire way." N.Y. Times.

"Ma Rose is a larger than life figure who at times approaches the stature of a black Queen Lear." San Francisco Examiner.

FEE: $75 per performance.