Honor Killing has gone through the works before taking on FST’s Mainstage this season. Over the course of its development, playwright Sarah Bierstock took the new work to over five play reading festivals, each time tweaking the script and evolving the story a little more.

The emotionally-charged play has been read at the Guild Hall Theatre (East Hampton, New York), the Athena Theater (Denver, Colorado), and at the Cherry Lane Theatre (New York City), and was workshopped at the Pioneer Theatre’s “Play-By-Play” in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Bierstock did her research. “I modeled some of Allisyn’s experiences off of a few female reporters I particularly respect, such as Carlotta Gall (who writes for The New York Times and covered Pakistan for twelve years),” said Bierstock. “I reached out to several Pakistani female reporters, asking for help to authenticate the story I had created. To my delight, several responded positively, and I was able to ask them a myriad of questions that helped me re-write the journalistic elements of this story more realistically.”
As Sarasota’s Contemporary Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre is at the forefront of presenting the best new plays written in America today. FST’s Sarasota Festival of New Plays is dedicated to providing a platform for new works to be heard, workshopped, and developed. Honor Killing made its FST debut last year as part of the 2016 Sarasota Festival of New Plays as a staged reading. Those who attended the staged reading of Honor Killing last May called it it “Refreshing,” “Fearless,” “Poignant” and “Powerful.” Following its warm reception by FST audiences this past May, we knew Honor Killing was ready for its World Premiere on the FST Mainstage.