Review by Stanford Friedman September 18, 2017A few years prior to winning a Pulitzer for Topdog/Underdog, Suzan-Lori Parks had the idea to write a play inspired by Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. And since plays often have minds of their own, that play turned out to be two plays: Fking A and In the Blood. Now, the Signature Theatre has brought these pieces together under the same roof, giving us two different Hesters and a world of grief.The premise of In the Blood is simple enough: a single...

In the Blood Tickets
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks, The Red Letter Plays: Fucking A & In the Blood are new productions of two modern-day remixes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter that conjure two distinct interpretations of Hester, Western literature’s most famous adulteress.
IN THE BLOOD’s Hester La Negrita is a penniless mother of five condemned by the men who love her, in this play hailed by The New York Times as "…a work of art." You will leave thrilled, even comforted by its mastery.” Hester turns to former lovers, friends, and the institutions meant to support her, only to be spurned by them all with devastating consequences, in this new production directed by Obie Award-winner Sarah Benson (An Octoroon).