By Lydia Baxter “Off the top of your head, what do you want to do with your life?” asked Young Jean Lee’s therapist in a session one day. Completely a surprise to her, Lee blurted out, “I want to be a playwright.” At the time, Lee was enrolled in UC Berkeley’s English PhD program and was feeling unchallenged and unfulfilled. In the coming years, she … Continue reading Meet ‘The Most Adventurous Downtown Playwright of a Generation”
By Jenna Tensor Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King by Sophocles, 429 BC: Follows the story of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who receives confusing advice from an oracle that leads to him accidentally killing his father, and unknowingly sleeping with his mother. As far as father-son dramas go, this one ends badly. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or Hamlet by William Shakespeare, … Continue reading Other Celebrated Father-Son Dramas
Matt Koenig is a former FST Acting Apprentice who has “come home” to play Drew Norton in FST’s production of Straight White Men. We sat down with him to chat about his connections with the characters in Young Jean Lee’s latest play, how he defines success, and the different ways Straight White Men challenges audiences. Straight White Men runs in FST’s Keating Theatre now through March 2. For … Continue reading The Times They Are a-Changin’
Jess Prichard is, like his character Matt Norton, a straight white man in America, but they navigate the world in vastly different ways. We met with Jess to find out how he defines success, about the role of privilege plays in society, and why he thinks Straight White Men is an important play in today’s world. Straight White Men runs in FST’s Keating Theatre now through March 2. … Continue reading The Prodigal Son
by Charles E. Williams Some define privilege as a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others. To many, privilege is often thought of as something that is earned and not given. The controversial and often hotly disputed term “white privilege” can be thought of as an advantage that white people have in society that is earned by operation of … Continue reading White Entitlement: Exploring Racial Privilege
by Becca Jennings Let’s face it. The holidays are a time of good tidings, great cheer…and even greater stress. In Straight White Men, the festivities are unexpectedly suspended when son Matt is brought to tears, putting a confusing damper on the family’s Christmas celebration. Here’s a list of seven things inspired by the play that are guaranteed to up the stress level this holiday season. … Continue reading Don’t Have A Merry Meltdown
by Jenna Tonsor To say playwright Young Jean Lee is “a big deal” is an understatement. She’s been called “One of the best experimental playwrights in America,” by Time Out New York and “The most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation,” by The New York Times. She is the first female Asian American playwright to ever have a play produced on Broadway. She’s a two-time … Continue reading From the Outside In
by Jenna Tonsor They say you can never go home again. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee follows three adult brothers, Drew, Jake, and Matt, who reunite in their childhood home to celebrate the Christmas holiday with their father, Ed, who loves his boys as much as he loves forcing them to wear matching Christmas pajamas. Under … Continue reading A Holiday Hits Home
by Meg Gilbert and Becca Jennings Time Out New York has called her “one of the best experimental playwrights in America.” She’s the first and only Asian American woman to have her work produced on Broadway. She’s a two-time Obie Award-winner and a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient. And this season, Young Jean Lee’s complexly explosive avant-garde play, Straight White Men, is coming straight from Broadway to … Continue reading Straight from Broadway
FST Stage Directions 