Hurt Village
by Katori Hall

Name: Hurt Village
Brand: Katori Hall
SKU: 9780822226833
Rating: 4.09 (2 reviews)

Hurt Village Book Cover — Hurt Village Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

105 mins Present Day Role(s) for Black Actor(s) Ensemble Cast Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Synopsis

It’s the end of a long summer in Hurt Village, a housing project in Memphis, Tennessee.

A government Hope Grant means relocation for many of the project’s residents, including Cookie, a thirteen-year-old aspiring rapper, her mother Crank, and great-grandmother Big Mama.

As the family prepares to move, Cookie’s father, Buggy, unexpectedly returns from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Ravaged by the war, Buggy struggles to find a position in his disintegrating community and in his daughter’s wounded heart in this passionate, rhythmic exploration of tragedy and hope.

Press Reviews

"Ferocious and expansive… The signal achievement of the play is to stare irony down and make grit seem true again… Passionate, rhythmically eloquent explorations of tragedy and hope… This is theatre that throbs with life and quickens the pulse and mind."
— Time Out New York

"Terrifically exciting work by a playwright with something to say."
— Variety

"The playwright juggles characters and narratives like as many balls, keeping them all up in the air with skill."
— New York Post

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Crank Late 20s. Three years clean off of crack, hustles the government and does everybody hair in the neighborhood, cranky, has been taken in by Big Mama, used to date Buggy.	—	20s	Late 20s. Three years clean off of crack, hustles the government and does everybody hair in the neighborhood, cranky, has been taken in by Big Mama, used to date Buggy.
Big Mama 55. The matriarch of the family and respected hard-working pillar of the community, Buggy’s blood grandmother.	—	55	55. The matriarch of the family and respected hard-working pillar of the community, Buggy’s blood grandmother.
Buggy Late 20s. A soldier returning home from the Iraq War with a haunting secret.	—	20s	Late 20s. A soldier returning home from the Iraq War with a haunting secret.
Toyia Late 20s. The fast-talking, loud-mouthed upstairs neighbor, works as an exotic dancer at the local “shake junt,” Cornbread’s “babymama,” calls herself a feminist.	—	20s	Late 20s. The fast-talking, loud-mouthed upstairs neighbor, works as an exotic dancer at the local “shake junt,” Cornbread’s “babymama,” calls herself a feminist.
Cornbread Late 20s. Mixed-race or “high yella,” FedEx employee and small-time drug dealer (also called “doughboy”), not-so-secretly in love with Crank.	—	20s	Late 20s. Mixed-race or “high yella,” FedEx employee and small-time drug dealer (also called “doughboy”), not-so-secretly in love with Crank.
Ebony Late teens. Neighborhood comedian and small-time doughboy, a Tony C crony.	—	—	Late teens. Neighborhood comedian and small-time doughboy, a Tony C crony.
Skillet Early to mid-teens. Badly scarred from a childhood accident involving a skillet, speaks really slowly.	—	—	Early to mid-teens. Badly scarred from a childhood accident involving a skillet, speaks really slowly.
Tony C Early 40s. The “Kang” of the doughboys and controls the crack houses in Hurt Village.	—	40s	Early 40s. The “Kang” of the doughboys and controls the crack houses in Hurt Village.
Cookie 13. Crank and Buggy’s daughter, precocious and gifted, a wannabe rapper, just wants to get out.	female	13	13. Crank and Buggy’s daughter, precocious and gifted, a wannabe rapper, just wants to get out.