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Blood-bound and Tongue-tied
Synopsis
Blood-bound and Tongue-tied is an intriguing and poetic adaptation of the Oedipus Rex myth. Set in Texas during the depression, the play follows the astonishing journey of Jocasta, an African-American woman who passes for white and shuns her entire past when she falls in love with, Laius, a successful White politician. With the birth of their son, Oedipus, Jocasta's lies instigate a wave of bloodshed and carnage on the African American community. Blood-bound and Tongue-tied is a provocative and riveting new play, which demonstrates the detrimental and lasting effects that racism and self-hatred can have on the social mobility, psychological conditioning, and personal identification of African Americans in the United States.
Cast Break Down
2W/3M
Character Descriptions
Jocasta (16-42): Black, light-skinned, she passes for white and is determined to improve the quality of life for blacks.
Laius (23-39): White, brilliant lawyer, loves Jocasta desperately, irrationally.
Creon (17-43): Black, brown-skinned, loves his sister dearly, but doesn’t approve of her decision to pass.
Jenna (21-44): White, lovely, Southern, racist and very much in love with Laius.
Oedipus (16-24): Mixed-Raced, brown-skinned, the son of Laius and Jocasta, leader of the Black Renegades.
Development History
Blood-bound and Tongue-tied is an intriguing and poetic adaptation of the Oedipus Rex myth. Set in Texas during the depression, the play follows the astonishing journey of Jocasta, an African-American woman who passes for white and shuns her entire past when she falls in love with, Laius, a successful White politician. With the birth of their son, Oedipus, Jocasta's lies instigate a wave of bloodshed and carnage on the African American community. Blood-bound and Tongue-tied is a provocative and riveting new play, which demonstrates the detrimental and lasting effects that racism and self-hatred can have on the social mobility, psychological conditioning, and personal identification of African Americans in the United States.
Cast Break Down
2W/3M
Character Descriptions
Jocasta (16-42): Black, light-skinned, she passes for white and is determined to improve the quality of life for blacks.
Laius (23-39): White, brilliant lawyer, loves Jocasta desperately, irrationally.
Creon (17-43): Black, brown-skinned, loves his sister dearly, but doesn’t approve of her decision to pass.
Jenna (21-44): White, lovely, Southern, racist and very much in love with Laius.
Oedipus (16-24): Mixed-Raced, brown-skinned, the son of Laius and Jocasta, leader of the Black Renegades.
Development History
- World Premiere Production at the Strand Theater Company (Baltimore, MD), March 23-April 7, 2012
- Workshop Production at the Strand Theater Company (Baltimore, MD) - June 2, 11, and 15, 2011
- New Play Development Workshop and Reading at Classical Theater of Harlem (Harlem, NY) - April 2011
- New Play Development Workshop and Reading at Rorschach Theatre Company (Washington, DC) - February 2007
- New Play Reading at World Interplay Festival (Townsville, Australia) - July 2003
- Conceived at the Kennedy Center’s Playwright’s Intensive (Washington, DC) - July 2002
