DREAM OF A COMMON LANGUAGE by Heather McDonald

Echo Theatre's premiere production
At the Basement Space, Dallas, Texas

August 6 - 29, 1998

Directed by Pam Myers-Morgan

Featuring
Suzy Blaylock, Kateri Cale, Chamblee Ferguson,
Linda Marie Ford, James Kille and Hunter Tharp

Set in 1874 Paris, Dream of A Common Language explores the delicately complex balance between a woman's artistic calling, her family life, and the influence of societal constraints and expectations.

Playwright Heather McDonald was partly inspired to write the play after attending an Impressionist exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. She stumbled across an intriguing painting, and beneath it was a blurb describing a dinner held to plan the first Impressionist exhibit in 1874. What hit home with McDonald about the painting was the fact that none of the women artists who participated in that exhibition were at the dinner. Says McDonald, "I was struck that you could be a painter, but you couldn't be part of the dialogue."

In a recent interview, McDonald said, "that image of the men sitting down at the dinner table jogged me. I thought about what it was like, not to be at the table." She continued, "I wanted to write about that invisibility and how it can cause crippling, self-doubt...fury. McDonald explained that she also wanted to write a love story, but one within a marriage. "I wanted to write about the longing, for women as well as men, to have a fusion of passion and work in their lives."

The critically acclaimed play was honored with six coveted Helen Hayes awards for its production at the Theatre of the First Amendment at George Washington University.

Stage Management: Michael Starcher
Set and Lighting Design: Mark Hankla
Costume Design: Paul Wackym
Sound Design: Robert Myers-Morgan
Props: Bonny Henley