Lucas Hnath is one of the hottest playwrights around. His play Hillary and Clinton recently played on Broadway with Laurie Metcalf as Hillary and John Lithgow as Bill Clinton. In 2017 his A Doll’s House, Part 2 was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. Red Speedo found the playwright winning the Obie Award for Best Play. His play The Christians appeared locally at the Mark Taper Forum in late 2015 into 2016. He’s a playwright with a lot on his mind. Center Theatre Group gave the world premiere of this new work by Hnath called Dana H in June. Now Dana H is opening at the Vineyard Theatre in New York where it will run through April 11th.
Dana H finds the playwright focusing on a story very close to home. The play is based on his own mother’s experiences when she was held captive for five months in Florida by an ex-convict with whom she was working as a psych ward chaplain. Hnath’s mother, Dana, gave interviews to Steve Cosson and the playwright used those interviews as the source for his one-woman play.
Deirdre O’Connell plays Dana H. She is best-known locally for her performance in Lisa Kron’s In the Wake at the Kirk Douglas in 2010. New York audiences know her from a multitude of performances including Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation for which she won Obie and Drama Desk Awards for her performance.
Les Waters, former Artistic Director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville, directs this production. He was the director of the Mark Taper Forum production of The Christians.
Dana H is 75 minutes without an intermission. There is a warning that due to strong depictions of violence and dark themes that the play is recommended for ages 16 and over.
Read our interview with Deirdre O’Connell about her experiences with Dana H here.
For tickets go here.
Photo of Lucas Hnath courtesy of NYU/Tisch where Hnath is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dramatic Writing.
Update: This post has been updated for its run at the Vineyard Theatre in New York.
2nd Update: This post has been updated reflecting the extension of the run at the Vineyard Theatre
