Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous

By Pearl Cleage
Directed by Susan V. Booth

A lifetime ago, actress Anna Campbell and director Betty Samson ignited a major theatrical controversy with a performance of scenes from August Wilson's Fences that came to be known forever after as 'Naked Wilson.' To escape the critics, Anna and Betty accepted what they thought would be a temporary job in Amsterdam. Twenty-five years later, the women receive an invitation to return to the states where the infamous piece will open a women’s theatre festival that promises to be ‘angry, raucous, and shamelessly gorgeous.’ Uncertain of what kind of reception she will get after so many years in self-imposed exile, and unmoved by Betty's reassurances, Anna's insecurity only grows when she meets Pete Watson, the ambitious young performer who has been chosen to recreate the role but whose theatrical experience is so far limited to the adult entertainment industry. Searching for common ground, Anna and Pete must confront their ideas about themselves and about each other, as they search for a way to reconcile their two very different ways of looking at the world. This is a story for anyone who has ever tried to build a bridge between generations, hoping to offer a lifetime of advice to some unsuspecting young person (who probably hasn't asked for it,) and discovered in the process that there is as much to learn as there is to teach. With humor and grace, Pearl Cleage finds a meeting place where both women can not only find each other, but make peace with a few lingering ghosts just in time for opening night.

Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous takes place with the support of the Mellon Foundation's National Playwright Residency Program administered in partnership with Howlround.