Father Comes Home From The Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3

Pulitzer winner Suzan-Lori Parks continues in her audacious vein with the first part of a projected trilogy (that’s right, “Parts 1, 2 and 3” are apparently to be followed by parts four through nine). This section, Father Comes Home From The Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3, borrows from classical Greek tradition–there’s the equivalent of a chorus, a character named Homer, a protagonist named Hero (eventually Ulysses) with a wife named Penny and even a cockeyed dog named “Odd-See.” It’s a Civil War-set epic tale of a man faced with an impossible decision: Hero, a slave, is promised freedom if he will fight alongside his master–for the Confederacy. Of its 2014 Off-Broadway run, the New York Times’ critic said it seemed “the finest work yet from this gifted writer … might just be the best new play I’ve seen this year.” The play won the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for a theatrical work inspired by American history.