The Syringa Tree Director's Notes It is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to live under apartheid. It would mean being a prisoner in your own country, stripped of your rights, denied the privilege of owning your own home or business, restricted as to where and when you can travel--all because you are African or Black instead of European or white. To make matters worse, you cannot protest the appalling conditions under which you are forced to live because it is considered illegal. If you do protest, you will be arrested, imprisoned and possibly even murdered, even though the only crime you have committed is to stand up and fight for equal rights for the majority of your country. For those of us today, living in a democracy, with freedom of speech and the right to vote, it sounds like slavery, but this is exactly what happened to Africans living under aparheid laws in South Africa from 1948-1991. Pamela Gien, the playwright, grew up in Johannesburg during the apartheid years. Although she had the privilege of being white and upper middle class, she was not able to escape the devastating effects of apartheid on both her family and her surrogate black family, who shared the same household. The Syringa Tree reveals Pamela Gien's deep love for South Africa and its people. What makes this play powerful is that it is not overtly political, but rather it focuses on the human condition and love between these two families, who both experience great loss and suffering during the apartheid years. As an audience, we experience the events on stage through the eyes of a young girl, Elizabeth, who struggles to make sense of the chaos around her. Originally produced as a one-woman show performed by the playwright herself, The Syringa Tree has won several awards, including: the Obie Award for best play in 2001, the Drama Desk and Drama League Awards as well as the Outer Critic's Circle Award. What makes our production unique is that we have a cast of 14 actors performing 23 different roles, with almost all of the actors playing more than one character. << Back