Seder
Twenty-first century Budapest. The old headquarters of the Hungarian KGB has reopened as a museum dedicated to Communist atrocities. Retired typist Erzsike is eager to visit her old work place. That is, until she comes face to face with her own photograph on the museum’s Wall of Murderers—and learns her estranged daughter put it there. As Erzsike and her family wrestle with their history, deep secrets are revealed, big questions are raised, and the moral and political waters are muddied. Can Erzsike exonerate herself? Should she?
Set during a secular Jewish family’s first-ever Passover seder, Seder is an intimate epic about how one Hungarian woman survived the 20th century, from the darkest days of Stalinism to the fall of the Soviet Union and beyond. Inspired by a true story. Part of the larger 7th project.
Cast Requirements
4 M, 3W
Honors
[2017] Edgerton Foundation New Play Award
[2017] Nominee, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
[2017] Finalist, Premiere Stages' Play Festival (dir. John Wooten)
[2016] Finalist, Marin Theatre Company's Sky Cooper Prize
[2016] Nominee, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
[2016] Honorable Mention, The Kilroys' List
[2015] Honorable Mention, The Kilroys' List
[2014] Semi-Finalist, Cherry Lane Mentor Project
[2012] Semi-Finalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
[2011] PlayLabs Selection, Great Plains Theater Conference 2011
[2010] Finalist, Six Points Fellowship 2010
Production and Development History
[2017] World Premiere at Hartford Stage (dir. Elizabeth Williamson)
[2017] Finalist, Premiere Stages' Play Festival (dir. John Wooten)
[2016] Workshop, Hartford Stage (dir. Elizabeth Williamson)
[2012] Workshop, Sirály Arts Center, Budapest (dir. András Dömötör)
[2011] Staged Reading, Quarter6Quarter7 Festival, Budapest (dir. András Dömötör)
[2011] Staged Reading, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Omaha (dir. Benjamin Graber)
[2010] Staged Reading, NYU Tisch Goldberg Theatre (dir. Oliver Butler)