Parks - Father comes home from the wars. Parts 1, 2 & 3

One of the top plays of the year... A richly textured mix of Brechtian allegory and Homeric epic, finding new meaning in an essential American tragedy. Richard Zoglin, TIME By turns philosophical and playful, lyrical and earthy, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) swoops, leaps, dives and soars, reimagining a turbulent turning point in American history through a cockeyed contemporary lens... The wonder of Ms. Parkss achievement is how smoothly she blends the high and the low, the serious and the humorous, the melodramatic and the grittily realistic. Charles Isherwood, New York Times Suzan-Lori Parkss stunning new drama is that rare work of art: one that bears the heavy burden of its subject matterthe peculiar institution of American slavery but that carries it lightly...

Parks brings the full force of her dramatic power. She both elevates her themes with echoes of classic literature, while at the same time doubling down on comedy... This is serious work that is seriously entertaining. Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly The best new play of the year... It is bold, hugely entertaining, moving and thrillingly ambitious. Suzan-Lori Parks bids fair to create a sprawling multi-part epic to plant alongside August Wilsons monumental Century Cycle, one of the great achievements in theater history.

Parts 4 through 9 (or more?) cant come fast enough. Michael Giltz, Huffington Post Suzan-Lori Parks may reach back to the ancient Greeks for references and structure, but her play delivers an in-the-moment gut punch. Father Comes Home from the Wars is an insightful, poetic, often heartbreaking look at the devastations of war and slavery and the complications of freedom. Robert Feldberg, Bergen Record One of the most provocative playwrights we have. Linda Winer, Newsday Can one-third of something already be a masterpiece? Seems like it to me... Father Comes Home from the Wars is one of those storiesor maybe more than one. Father Comes Home from the Wars is one of those storiesor maybe more than one.

Jesse Green, New York Brilliant, beautiful... This haunting work is funny and tragic, whimsical and lacerating, poetic and poignant... If Parks can sustain her sprawling project at this level as it moves forward, theres every reason to hope it will ultimately become no less significant and emotionally resonant an undertaking than August Wilsons ten-play Century Cycle. David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter Parkss richest, most satisfying play... The real news isnt that Parks has hit the mark with a complex and ambitious workshe undoubtedly has. Its that the playful spirit of her best work turns out to be alive and well.

Tom Sellar, Village Voice Suzan-Lori Parks has finally arrived at classical proportions: her Civil War triptych is built along the sharp, symmetrical lines of Greek tragedy and Homeric epic... The language is poetic and formal, a modified nineteenth-century slave idiom, imbued with Parkss improvisatory, jazzy irreverence... After decades in which Parks encouraged us to get lost in the holes of history, shes playing where theater began: with song, story, ritual and catharsis. David Cote, Time Out New York Provocative and rich... earthy and irreverently funny, neither pompous tragedy nor Ken Burnstype reenactment. Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York PostOther Books by Suzan-Lori ParksPublished by TCGThe America Play and Other WorksAlso Includes:EssaysImperceptible Mutabilities in the Third KingdomBetting on the Dust CommanderPicklingThe Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire WorldDevotees in the Garden of LoveThe Book of GraceThe Red Letter PlaysIncludes:Fucking AIn the Blood365 Days/365 PlaysTopdog/UnderdogVenusFather Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) is copyright 2015 by Suzan-Lori ParksFather Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156All rights reserved.

Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty.All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the authors representative: Mark Subias, United Talent Agency, 888 Seventh Avenue, 9th Floor New York, NY 10102, (212) 659-2600, .The publication of Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), by Suzan-Lori Parks, through TCGs Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataParks, Suzan-Lori.Father comes home from the wars (parts 1, 2 & 3) / Suzan-Lori Parks.pages; cmISBN 978-1-55936-817-9 (ebook)1. SlavesUnited StatesDrama. 2. I. I.

Title.PS3566.A736F38 2015812.54dc23 2015001459Book design and composition by Lisa GovanCover design by JB and Kitty SuenFront cover: Sterling K. Brown as Hero; back cover: Louis Cancelmi as Smith (The Public Theater production). Photos by Tammy ShellFirst Edition, May 2015Returning is the Way of the Tao.Tao Te Ching, Verse XLContentsFather Comes Home from the WarsParts 1, 2 & 3Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) was first produced at The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) in New York City on October 28, 2014. The director was Jo Bonney; the set design was by Neil Patel, the costume design was by ESosa, the lighting design was by Lap Chi Chu, the sound design was by Dan Moses Schreier, the songs and additional music were by Suzan-Lori Parks, the music was arranged and performed by Steven Bargonetti; the production stage manager was Evangeline Rose Whitlock. The cast was: