Bones of Home & Other Plays

Bones of Home and Other Plays weaves the splendor and decay of New Orleans with its past and present and then spirals out from its New Orleans center like delicate threads of a web. This collection of plays brings a broad range of writing styles with contemporary and historical plays. The contemporary plays spring forth from the questions of our times: How does the downward economy change family dynamics? How can uncontrollable crime bring people together? How does our penchant for youth at all costs influence friendships? How can a lonely soul find strength within? The historic plays complicated by Louisiana lore offer a look at what remains the same and what has changed through the years. The historic plays resonate with struggles we continue to confront today, amid themes of race, gender, and power. Donaghy embraces her characters lives, complicated by choices between disparate worlds, with care and a hunger to explore. Her characters choices are about good and evil, hope and loss, faith and doubt and often involve a search for the meaning of home.

Playwright Charlene A. Donaghy’s plays have been produced in New York City, Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Memphis, and in other cities around the United States, with recognition in Great Britain and Canada. Her full-length play, The Quadroon and the Dove, will premiere Off-Broadway produced by Madison Square Productions. Her play Gift of an Orange, inspired by Tennessee Williams short story Gift of an Apple, opened the season for Boston’s New Urban Theatre Laboratory. Ms. Donaghy’s publications include Best American Short Plays, Estrogenius, In the Eye, 25*10-Minute Plays for Teens, The Louisiana Literary Journal, and the Mad River Literary Journal. Her recognitions and awards include international finalist for Great Britain’s North American Actors Association Playreading Award, nominee for the National Partners in American Theatre Playwriting Award, a two-time John Cauble national semi-Finalist, a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville Heideman Award, a finalist for Canada’s Bottle Tree Productions, and other accolades. Ms. Donaghy is Festival Director for the Warner International Playwrights Festival, Producing Director for the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, and Co-Producer of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s New Play Development Workshop. She teaches in the University of Nebraska Omaha’s MFA in Creative Writing and Department of Theatre. Ms. Donaghy is the Connecticut Regional Representative and member of The Dramatists Guild of America, The Playwrights Center, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, New York City’s 9th Floor Playwrights’ Collective, and she is a founding member of Boston’s Proscenium Playwrights. Ms. Donaghy is a breast cancer survivor and holds true to Tennessee Williams’ words from Camino Real “Make Voyages! Attempt them! There’s nothing else.”