The Art of Self-Defense
by Trish Johnson

THE STORY: The play unfolds in a series of scenes in and around a health club.

Five women, from a variety of widely differing backgrounds, meet in a T'ai Chi class.

The male instructor is unseen, a voice from the wings.

He introduces them to T'ai Chi, which is a mixture of meditation and self-defense.

Over a period of time the women, among them a young mother, a personnel director and a corporate lawyer, discover the strength that friendship among women can provide.

But even this knowledge can prevent one of them, a meek but modestly ambitious office worker who is encouraged and supported by her fellows, from a failure of courage at the crucial moment.

The play ends dramatically, with a recognition that each woman is responsible for the quality of her own life.