Ohio State Murders
by Adrienne Kennedy

Name: Ohio State Murders
Brand: Adrienne Kennedy
SKU: 9780573662355
Rating: 3.97 (114 reviews)

Off-Broadway

Ohio State Murders Book Cover — Ohio State Murders Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

75 mins 1990s Role(s) for Black Actor(s) Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Awards & Recognition

Obie Award

Synopsis

Ohio State Murders explores the experiences of Suzanne Alexander, a fictional Black writer whose life both is, and is not, like her author's.

When Suzanne enters Ohio State University in 1949, she has no idea what the supposed safe haven of academia holds in store.

Years later, Suzanne returns to the university to talk about the violence in her writing.

A dark mystery unravels.

Adrienne Kennedy's play is an intriguing, unusual and chilling look at the destructiveness of racism in the U.S.

Press Reviews

"Quietly hypnotic... leaves a lasting chill in the bones. [Adrienne Kennedy] is surely one of the finest living American playwrights."
— Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

"Much of the pleasure of the play derives from Ms. Kennedy’s elliptical narrative form, which generates a good share of old-fashioned, nail-biting suspense."
— The New York Times

"Part murder mystery, part memoir, this one-act drama leads us delicately but intrepidly into an American heart of darkness."
— CurtainUp

"Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders could almost be mistaken for simple storytelling. A woman rises from a table, and for 55 minutes she recalls a vicious, race-related crime she endured 50 years ago. Ghosts of the past move around her, but she stands in the present, safe and free. Or so it seems. However, then and now fuse together, and the dream-like result is not a mere monologue, but a complex drama."
— Variety

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Suzanne Alexander (Present) A well-known black writer visiting Ohio State to give a talk on the imagery in her work	female	—	A well-known black writer visiting Ohio State to give a talk on the imagery in her work
David Alexander A law student she will marry	female	—	A law student she will marry
Robert Hampshire An English professor at Ohio State	—	—	An English professor at Ohio State
Mrs. Tyler Suzanne’s landlady	—	—	Suzanne’s landlady
Val A friend	—	—	A friend
Iris Ann Suzanne’s roommate	—	—	Suzanne’s roommate
Miss Dawson Head of the dorm	—	—	Head of the dorm
Suzanne Alexander (1949-1952) The young writer as a student attending Ohio State from 1949 to 1950	—	949-195	The young writer as a student attending Ohio State from 1949 to 1950