Sympathetic Magic
by Lanford Wilson

Name: Sympathetic Magic
Brand: Lanford Wilson
SKU: 9780822216308
Rating: 3.47 (15 reviews)

Sympathetic Magic Book Cover — Sympathetic Magic Cover

Highlights

Medium Cast

Female

Male

120 minsUnit Set/Multiple SettingsAmerican LGBTQ

Why we like it

"'Sympathetic Magic' by Lanford Wilson blends the magical with the realistic, exploring how our beliefs can shape our experiences."

From: Fantasy and Magical Realism

Awards & Recognition

Obie Award

Winner of the 1997 Obie Award for best play.

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the unique concept behind the play and its thought-provoking themes. The exploration of complex ideas resonates with audiences, drawing them into the narrative. Overall, it is seen as an engaging experience that combines intellect with artistry.

Thought-provoking themesUnique conceptEngaging narrativeSome may find it too abstract

Synopsis

THE STORY: Liz Barnard is an anthropologist studying West Coast gangs for behavior similar to African tribes.

Her son, Don, is a homosexual Episcopal minister whose parishioners are poor and many sick with AIDS.

Liz's daughter, Barbara, is a gifted

Press Reviews

"Winner of the 1997 Obie Award for Playwriting. ”Lanford Wilson's idiosyncratic SYMPATHETIC MAGIC is his best play yet…the rare play you WANT…chock-full of ideas, incidents, witty or poetic lines, scientific and philosophical argument…you'll find your intellectual faculties racing.“ —New York Magazine. ”The mystery of the unexplored universe and the mystery of artistic creation begin to re-volve around the more familiar mystery of life on earth and why we keep reproducing it. She does something unwise, he does something unforgivable. The result changes them and everyone in their intimate circle, irrevocably. The play ends where it started, with the scientist lecturing about the inexplicable nature of the universe and the “dark matter” of which it seems to be largely composed; only now we've experienced what he means. Wilson has made the dark matter in human beings tangible; particularly in the scientist, whom we come to like and understand before he does something monstrous, and who"
— Village Voice