Bulrusher
by Eisa Davis

Name: Bulrusher
Brand: Eisa Davis
SKU: 9780573663130
Rating: 3.9 (77 reviews)

Highlights

Female

Male

120 mins 1950s Ensemble Cast Period Costumes

Awards & Recognition

Pulitzer Prize

Finalist: 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Synopsis

In 1955, in the redwood country north of San Francisco, a multiracial girl grows up in a predominantly white town whose residents pepper their speech with the historical dialect of Boontling.

Found floating in a basket on the river as an infant, Bulrusher is an orphan with a gift for clairvoyance that makes her feel like a stranger even amongst the strange: the taciturn schoolteacher who adopted her, the madam who runs her brothel with a fierce discipline, the logger with a zest for horses and women, and the guitar-slinging boy who is after Bulrusher's heart.

Just when she thought her world might close in on her, she discovers an entirely new sense of self when a black girl from Alabama comes to town.

Passionate, lyrical, and chock full of down-home humor, this play is an unforgettable experience by a new, thrilling voice.

Press Reviews

"Mixing together issues of family, heritage, race and love, Eisa Davis' Bulrusher delivers a powerful impact with a poetic, deeply realized script and story. In the hands of director Marion McClinton... the work becomes transcendent."
— TalkingBroadway.org

"Bulrusher brims with profound lyrical passion...a poetic play with much nuance."
— NYTheatre.com

"[Davis] tickles the ears of her listeners... moving scenes on the banks of the pebble-strewn river...f eel utterly true."
— The New York Times

"Davis explores her themes in unexpected and evocative ways...The still waters of Bulrusher turn out to run pretty deep."
— The San Francisco Chronicle

"Davis has powers as a writer to find beauty in almost everything, and her play pulses with compassion and life. Bulrusher has the kind of satisfying, uplifting ending you can only find in live theater — vibrant, poetic, immediate and thrilling."
— Bay Area News Group