THE PLATYPODES
A Full Length Play
Creative, brilliant, and beautiful, THE PLATYPODES is the kind of play that stays with an audience for a long time.
--Emily Hageman
When titled ALLEGRA:
NATIONAL FINALIST - David Mark Cohen Award from Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival, 2011.
SEMI-FINALIST - National Playwrights' Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, 2010.
Other awards and recognition:
SEMI-FINALIST - Ruckus Rockwell, 2018.
THE PLATYPODES is about Allegra Gray, a pregnant woman, making a difficult decision for herself and her brother who has Down syndrome. Complicating matters is that her entire city knows that she is pregnant. This political play deals with the current restrictions on reproductive rights, but is also an intimate family drama and a tragedy about one woman's heroic act of will.
A play with illustrations, Powerpoint, slow-mo, Sign language, performance art, and platypuses.
CAST OF 6+. 3 F/3M.
DRAMA/TRAGEDY - 2 ACTS - 2 HRS.
Production History
None. Looking for further development and staged readings.
Development History
for previous version of play:
Table Reading - Playwrights' Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2014.
staged reading - wordsmyth theater company at main street theatre, chelsea market, houston, texas, 2011. directed by timothy eric.
reading and development - kennedy center's american college theatre conference, los angeles, ca, feb 9th and 12th, 2011. directed by jim holmes.
feedback - from playwriting fellows at the national playwrights' conference at the eugene o'neill theater center, 2010.
reading - second draft series, phoenix theatre, phoenix, az, november 20th, 2010 and april 30th, 2011.
workshop production, arizona state university, tempe, az, dec 2010. directed by bill partlan.
An incredible character study of both our people and the hypocrisy of our society, Asher characters move the plot forward with both compassion and harsh realities. We can’t help but love them and be afraid for them while somehow feeling the dreadful doom that accompanies their every step.
This play is a microcosm of political and ethical angst manifesting among a tight community of diverse inhabitants with divergent but defendable points of view. There is no easy way out of this story, which makes for some heart wrenching theatre.
Heartwrenching, full of complications and ultra topical. Tackles controversy head-on, never flinches, even if the characters do.
Wyndham’s play is smart, sharp, and thought-provoking. His distinctive characters face moral choices, and respond to them in ways that will captivate and engage an audience. The playwright grabs your attention from the opening scene, and never lets go.
This play moves breathtakingly fast but still does a fine job of fully developing the characters and relationships. The pace sweeps you along and you genuinely get to understand the people, the story, and the achingly difficult choices they face.
his is a huge, sprawling play - a drama of scope, both in its subject matter and its deep understanding. If you are looking for a play that sweeps your audience up and carries them along on an emotional ride,
Wyndham has created a story of a very personal choice that moves with an exciting pace and a mix of characters not normally thrown into this kind of plot. Allegra has a rich and complexly human life and has to weigh so many things that it seems almost impossible to put herself first. A play about the struggle between what the world thinks you should do and listening to your own truths. A casting challenge, but wonderfully worthwhile piece
Wyndham’s play avoids simple moralizing, rather dealing with how individuals must navigate the myriad balance ethical demands they can only face on their own.
Wyndham has a gift for detail as he eloquently examines every aspect of one of our world’s most controversial subjects. His play is populated with damaged yet loving characters all trying their best to do what is right. The play is current, important and boldly political.
Riveting. An extremely difficult topic handled with realism and wit. Allegra is a fantastic character for actresses “of a certain age” She’s complex, profane and driven, but you root for her. She’s a beautifully drawn woman, very layered and nuanced. The character of Vito has Down Syndrome [...] the role of a lifetime to that actor. Vito is fully rounded, never “cute”. And so, so believable.
Vito... an absolute gift for underrepresented actors. I want to see this show.