THE STORY: Born in 1805 Jamaica, Mary Seacole is determined to live an extraordinary life. As she travels across oceans and centuries, through a Jamaican hospital, a Crimean battlefront, a contemporary nursing home, and everywhere in between, Mary moves through life with Herculean fortitude. But as her brazen spirit meets historical reality, Mary’s world explodes, splitting, multiplying, and redefining her narrative. Based on the life of the famous nurse and entrepreneur, MARYS SEACOLE is an examination of what it means to be a woman paid to care.
“…breathless and radiant…a dazzling hall of mirrors…[MARYS SEACOLE] turns chronology inside out, erasing distinctions between past and present that make progress, on some levels, feel like a myth. At the same time, the play scrambles our notions of sacrifice and selfishness, as they apply to the cherished perception of women as caregivers…Ms. Drury gloriously confirms her status as a playwright for whom the long view is disturbingly, divertingly and endlessly kaleidoscopic.” —The New York Times.
“…powerful, densely layered…[MARYS SEACOLE] immediately gives us that little thrill of delight that comes from the incongruous…MARYS SEACOLE is in many ways an act of remembrance for the unremembered. It’s a fierce, complex eulogy and…an exhortation to see both past and present better.” —New York Magazine.
“Contemporary and historical scenes bleed together, staging a rich continuum in just 90 minutes. It’s breathtaking to behold…Drury tempers her perspicacity with surefire wit that will keep you laughing as the light bulb goes off in your brain.” —TheaterMania.
