Broadway’s Best Shows continues its Spotlight On Plays series with Adrienne Kennedy’s Ohio State Murders, starring Tony winner Audra McDonald. The live stream reading premieres 8 PM ET June 3 on Stellar and will be available on demand through June 7.
The story centers on Suzanne Alexander, a fictional African-American writer who returns to her alma mater to talk about the violence in her writing, exposing a dark mystery. Warner Miller (A Soldier’s Play), Lizan Mitchell (Electra), and Ben Rappaport (Picnic) also star, under the direction of Tony winner Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun).
Originally commissioned by Great Lakes Theater Festival and published in 1992, the play made its New York premiere in 2007 at Theater for a New Audience starring LisaGay Hamilton (Gem of the Ocean). The work is one in a cycle of plays centering on the character Suzanne Alexander. Other titles from the “Alexander Plays” are She Talks to Beethoven, The Film Club, and The Dramatic Circle.
Kennedy is a two-time Obie Award winner, and in 2008 was honored with an Obie Lifetime Achievement Award. She was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2018.
The spring series from Broadway’s Best Shows, highlighting female playwrights, concludes with Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl June 17. The series also recently announced a star-studded benefit concert Show of Titles, featuring 20 title tunes from Broadway musicals, streaming June 13.
Proceeds benefiting The Actors Fund. Click here for tickets.
