Heritage, Her-i-tage and Hair-i-tage

“My hair is a symbol of my identity. My hair is my pride. My hair is . . . an answer? I didn’t even know what the questions were, but something told me that if I let my hair go long enough, it would answer some questions for me that I needed to know, even though I hadn’t articulated them yet.”   - Tatsu Yamato, from What Are You?

SYNOPSIS: When Rebekah, a young multiracial teenager, confronts ‘hair-self’ in the mirror, the Nap Patrol storms in to prevent her from cutting off her hair in this comedic ten-minute play. Rebekah’s struggle with her hair is ultimately a struggle with standards of beauty and identity in the Black community. A poignant satire of racial politics in the mixed race community, Heritage, Her-i-tage, and Hair-i-tage comments upon the rigid notions of beauty and race within our society.

CAST SIZE: 3F

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: Minimal - just need a chair.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Production, Columbia College (Columbia, SC 2007).
Production, Cambridge School of Westen. (Weston, MA 2006).
Production, Dixie Hollins High School (St. Petersburg, FL 2005).
Production, Anadarko High School, (Anadarko, OK 2004).
Production, Short and Sweet African-American Playwrights Festival (Teaneck, NJ 2003).
Production, Sarah Lawrence College, (Bronxille, NY 2003).
Production, Strawberry One-Act Festival, Riant Theatre, (NYC 2003).
Reading, New Voices from the African Diaspora Playwright’s Festival, (NYC 2002).

SAMPLE PAGES: Click here to read a sample.

PERFORMANCE RIGHTS/SCRIPT: Please contact Playscripts, Inc to order scripts and purchase performance rights.

The play was most recently published in Vintage Book’s anthology LAUGH LINES: SHORT COMIC PLAYS edited by Nina Shengold and Eric Lane.

PREMIERE PRODUCTION: Sarah Lawrence College, 2003.

ORIGINAL CAST:

Autumn Brown as Rebekah

Desi Shelton as Nap Patrol Officer #1

Kewanta Greer as Nap Patrol Officer #2

 

(photo by Shane Tilston)