Venues
Events
MediaTheater
A Fresh Look at Parenthood
Winter Miller’s play Paternity
Winter Miller (playwright) and Craig Lucas (director and mentor) (Photo: James K. McNeel)
| | More
Breaking free from the confines of societal norms, Winter Miller’s play Paternity questions what makes a relationship work and what constitutes a good environment to raise a child. The play centers on a couple in the process of figuring out if they can make their relationship last and make the leap into parenthood. Miller will not reveal the specifics of the plot, but she hints that the tone of the play is “a romantic comedy that’s unsettling,” and that you can expect the same kind of shenanigans found in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? As she puts it, her play rebukes the idea that “certain people have a lock on parenthood. There seem to be conventional norms of what’s good for children and I believe that there are no set norms and those beliefs trap us.”
Through the characters own journey, alternative situations to the standard married couple and parenthood are thrown into the arena for question. As Miller watched a friend decide to become a single mother, she began to question expectations of love, relationships and motherhood. She observed that we are often fenced in by society’s limited options. Miller says, “If we do our jobs right, it will make [the audience] question their own relationships.”
Paternity will be performed under the Mentor Project Series at Cherry Lane Theatre. The program pairs seasoned playwrights with emerging writers, and Miller has been paired with Craig Lucas who serves the role of mentor and director. The performance runs from May 18–29, 2010 in the Studio Theatre at Cherry Lane. Tickets cost $18 ($11 with valid student ID) and can be reserved by calling 212-239-6200 or visiting www.cherrylanetheatre.org