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Articulation: Short Plays to Nourish the Mind & Soul
“In these fanciful, often hilarious plays you will discover a fantastic variety of characters—familiar nursery-rhyme figures who work in a ninety-nine-cent store and bet on horses, bananas and radishes who discuss their ill-fated destinies, birds who sing songs of unrequited love, time travelers who skip about from Caribbean present-day to slavery-era Virginia, bunnies who meet in support groups."
—from the Foreword by Zachary Sklar
“Cesi Davidson’s short plays are swift but indelible, both light and enlightening, their profound human truths conveyed with power and originality. Each piece assembles an intriguing, often whimsical or fantastic cast of characters...and gives them unbridled voice. The result is a series of interactions that embody fresh takes on the conundrums, the alienations and vulnerabilities—including those of race and class and gender and sexuality—of contemporary life. We’re awakened to our own ability to express our experiences, to feel our pain and that of others, to persevere.”
—John Gould, author of the Giller Prize short-listed 55 Fictions
“Cesi’s plays are adventures in wordscapes that show us the ways we are and the ways we can be. Characters not often seen on screen, stage or page populate her scenes in situations that make these short plays eminently readable and relatable while being unapologetically unique. Lovers of theater and fiction alike will find much to cherish in this collection. Bravo!”
—Celeste Rita Baker, author of Back,Belly, and Side
“Davidson’s delightful and wise Articulation illuminates the human condition. Her create non-human beings ranging from those plucked from nursery rhymes to celestial beings to fruits, vegetables and animals and put them in distinctly human situations.... What makes these plays particularly satisfying is Davidson’s ability to weave tough-minded outcomes...with sympathetic characters and sly humor.”
—Daniel Judah Sklar, playwright, author of Children Writing & Performing Their Own Plays , Distinguished Book Award from The American Alliance for Theater & Education.
“In this collection, Cesi Davidson presents work that draws fantasy, fairy tale and fun to grapple with many human situations. A bird or a bunny or a banana may have dialogue in her stories as frequently as human characters. You never can predict the form of her storytelling, but you will always be moved.”
—Martha Wade Steketee, Research, Criticism, Dramaturgy, www.urbanexcavations.com
“Intricate…at times humorous, at turns complex and serious. These are the short plays of an incredibly deft playwright. Cesi Davidson is a keen observer of human behavior and social issues juxtaposing fairy tales with twenty first century life, dreams weaving in and through time as well as social unrest and harmony. Some conjure up a painful history imbued with deep compassion and a questioning by the viewer of ‘where do we go from here?’ A few of them remind me of the great Harold Pinter and others in their playful absurdity bring to mind Ionesco. All are packed with a twist—a zag where you might expect a zig. Good art inspires personal and collective introspection and deep thought as well as joy. These plays certainly deliver.”
—Whitney Hamilton, Playwright/Screenwriter/novelist, Bjornquistfilms.com
“SEE CESI DANCE...
And the African joy of old
Lights the room
Open this Book
And you might find yourself
In a world where radish have souls
AND TALK
OR In a realm where
Purity percentage of truth in Love
Is the currency
For longevity in Life
Where writers fly…Daily
And actors become borderless
OPEN THIS BOOK
AND ride the WORDWAVES
OF ‘The Lorraine Hansberry’ of our time!”
—Kene Holliday, Actor, Director, Writer
—from the Foreword by Zachary Sklar
“Cesi Davidson’s short plays are swift but indelible, both light and enlightening, their profound human truths conveyed with power and originality. Each piece assembles an intriguing, often whimsical or fantastic cast of characters...and gives them unbridled voice. The result is a series of interactions that embody fresh takes on the conundrums, the alienations and vulnerabilities—including those of race and class and gender and sexuality—of contemporary life. We’re awakened to our own ability to express our experiences, to feel our pain and that of others, to persevere.”
—John Gould, author of the Giller Prize short-listed 55 Fictions
“Cesi’s plays are adventures in wordscapes that show us the ways we are and the ways we can be. Characters not often seen on screen, stage or page populate her scenes in situations that make these short plays eminently readable and relatable while being unapologetically unique. Lovers of theater and fiction alike will find much to cherish in this collection. Bravo!”
—Celeste Rita Baker, author of Back,Belly, and Side
“Davidson’s delightful and wise Articulation illuminates the human condition. Her create non-human beings ranging from those plucked from nursery rhymes to celestial beings to fruits, vegetables and animals and put them in distinctly human situations.... What makes these plays particularly satisfying is Davidson’s ability to weave tough-minded outcomes...with sympathetic characters and sly humor.”
—Daniel Judah Sklar, playwright, author of Children Writing & Performing Their Own Plays , Distinguished Book Award from The American Alliance for Theater & Education.
“In this collection, Cesi Davidson presents work that draws fantasy, fairy tale and fun to grapple with many human situations. A bird or a bunny or a banana may have dialogue in her stories as frequently as human characters. You never can predict the form of her storytelling, but you will always be moved.”
—Martha Wade Steketee, Research, Criticism, Dramaturgy, www.urbanexcavations.com
“Intricate…at times humorous, at turns complex and serious. These are the short plays of an incredibly deft playwright. Cesi Davidson is a keen observer of human behavior and social issues juxtaposing fairy tales with twenty first century life, dreams weaving in and through time as well as social unrest and harmony. Some conjure up a painful history imbued with deep compassion and a questioning by the viewer of ‘where do we go from here?’ A few of them remind me of the great Harold Pinter and others in their playful absurdity bring to mind Ionesco. All are packed with a twist—a zag where you might expect a zig. Good art inspires personal and collective introspection and deep thought as well as joy. These plays certainly deliver.”
—Whitney Hamilton, Playwright/Screenwriter/novelist, Bjornquistfilms.com
“SEE CESI DANCE...
And the African joy of old
Lights the room
Open this Book
And you might find yourself
In a world where radish have souls
AND TALK
OR In a realm where
Purity percentage of truth in Love
Is the currency
For longevity in Life
Where writers fly…Daily
And actors become borderless
OPEN THIS BOOK
AND ride the WORDWAVES
OF ‘The Lorraine Hansberry’ of our time!”
—Kene Holliday, Actor, Director, Writer
146 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2019
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