Cry of the Reed
5 m, 2 w. Approximate running time: 2 hrs 20 min
From the Huntington website:
“A journalist and her colleague find themselves unexpectedly "detained" by a band of insurgents as bombs rain down on a wartorn landscape. Her captors offer her one telephone call - a chance to reconnect with the mother she hasn't spoken to in 10 years, now living in Turkey and preparing for a festival celebrating the great Sufi poet Rumi. History, religion, and the beauty of whirling dervishes collide in this powerful, ripped-from-the-headlines portrait of a world at war.” This was a hugely challenging and gratifying play to write. The entire process, including research and writing, took more than two years. It’s a personal play: it deals with issues of mortality and faith, reflecting my own experience with a stroke and brain surgery which I went through while working on this play. It’s a thought-provoiking and controversial work. As one audience member put it, “probably not for everyone.” |
Audience Comments
❋ “Seeing CRY OF THE REED was one of the most powerful and profound experiences I have ever had going to theater. It is the first play I have ever gone back to see twice. (In fact, the friends we brought to the second performance themselves ended up going back to see it again.) Besides being a gripping and magnificent work of art, it speaks on so many levels about the challenges of embracing true faith in such a crazy time in our
history.”
❋ “Seeing CRY OF THE REED was one of the most powerful and profound experiences I have ever had going to theater. It is the first play I have ever gone back to see twice. (In fact, the friends we brought to the second performance themselves ended up going back to see it again.) Besides being a gripping and magnificent work of art, it speaks on so many levels about the challenges of embracing true faith in such a crazy time in our
history.”
❋ “Many thanks for bringing your play to Boston. I saw it with friends a few weeks ago. We were all deeply moved by the play's themes and characters. As Jews and Americans we were made profitably uncomfortable. I say profitably because we all must come to terms with ideas of "them and us", fundamentalism and materialism, God and/or the God within ourselves, and of course how to live a compassionate, ethical life. There is as you know a good deal more. You captured quite a bit.”
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“A fine production with an excellent cast. Impossible to forget!” - The Patriot Ledger
“Gorgeous, dazzling, kaleidoscopic! The intensity reaches fever pitch.” - EdgeBoston
“Cigdem Onat’s performance is rich and wonderful!” - The Boston Globe
First Public reading - The Huntington Theater Company - April 2007
Lark Theater Company reading - January 2008
Full production - The Huntington Thater Company - March 28 - May 3, 2008
Winner of The Ridgelea Award
“Gorgeous, dazzling, kaleidoscopic! The intensity reaches fever pitch.” - EdgeBoston
“Cigdem Onat’s performance is rich and wonderful!” - The Boston Globe
First Public reading - The Huntington Theater Company - April 2007
Lark Theater Company reading - January 2008
Full production - The Huntington Thater Company - March 28 - May 3, 2008
Winner of The Ridgelea Award