Defying Gravity
by Jane Anderson

Name: Defying Gravity
Brand: Jane Anderson
SKU: 9780573601330
Rating: 3.77 (75 reviews)

Defying Gravity Book Cover — Defying Gravity Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

American Comedy

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the emotional depth and personal perspectives presented in the play, particularly in relation to the Challenger disaster. Many find the relationships, especially between the Teacher and Elizabeth, to be poignant, while others admire the artistic elements woven into the narrative. However, some critiques suggest that the play's depth can occasionally feel forced or superficial.

Emotional and powerful storytellingTouching character relationshipsBeautiful artistic momentsSome elements feel forced or superficial

Synopsis

Drama / Characters: 3 male, 4 female Scenery: Exterior with set pieces and projections This free structured look at the 1986 Challenger disaster places the teacher who died with six others as they hurtled into space at the center of an exploration of our need to reach beyond ourselves and dare the universe.

Defying Gravity artfully interweaves the past with the present and the lives of participants and bystanders, drawing parallels among painter Claude Monet's artistic quest, the zest of the teacher selected to the first civilian astronaut, the perspectives of her grieving daughter, the aspirations of elderly tourists who drive their Winnebago to Florida to watch the space shot and dream of hotels in space, the guilt felt by a NASA mechanic and his girl friend's fear of heights.

"Flies high in its attempt to describe man's fascination with space and its conquest....

You will certainly not be bored."

N.Y.

Post.

"[A] clever and uplifting fantasy ... [with] ear catching musings about art, religion and the outer limits of human possibility."

N.Y.

Times.

"A lovely piece....

It floats gracefully in the big blue yonder of the imagination ... letting Anderson's delicate, tender and human attitude toward her characters come through....

One by one they rise out of their earthbound selves ... to look down on the world from a new perspective."

N.Y.

Daily News.

ThemesDrama General