Tom, Dick And Harriet
Award Winning Play by Two Newspapermen Begins Production
For Immediate Release: March 5, 2004 Contact: Mark Jacobson, 215.551.3376Philadelphia, PA - What happens to newspaper stories one day after they are read? They wrap fish, line birdcages and help light fireplaces.
Here's one story that met a more fortunate end: In March 1999, The Philadelphia Inquirer published a front-page story about a paternity lawsuit. It described a Pennsylvania man who determined through a DNA test that the son for whom he had been paying child support was not his own. After the story appeared, Inquirer author Shankar Vedantam and Inquirer editor Donald Drake asked themselves if the issues in the story could be turned into a play. Can DNA technology really decide what it means to be a parent?
After years of collaboration, Tom, Dick And Harriet won the 2nd Annual Brick Playhouse Award for Outstanding Writing. Now, The Brick Playhouse will present the world premiere April 7-25, 2004 at The 2nd Stage at the Adrienne at 2030 Sansom Street.
Tom, Dick And Harriet follows the arc of a m�nage � trois that goes awry: Three friends ford the raging rivers of sex and love only to wash up on the shoals of marriage and parenthood. A 10 year-old boy becomes their ultimate test, prompting hilarious battles over genetics and possessiveness. Inspired by the Inquirer story, this is a crackling comedy about politics, parents and the press.
Shankar Vedantam is now a staff writer at The Washington Post. A collection of his short stories, The Ghosts of Kashmir, will soon be published in India. One of the stories has been published in 2002 in Rosebud Magazine. He is also working on a novel and a new play about civil liberties in a post-Sept 11 America. He is one of the authors of the book Violence or Dialogue, released in Oct 2003. He lives in Washington D.C.
Donald C. Drake is a former staff writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer and author of several plays, including Clear and Present Danger, which was produced by the Walnut Street Theater; Words, which was produced by the Wilma and The International Theatre in Vienna; Final Edition, which was produced by the Eureka theater in Eureka, Ca., and Saintly Mother, which was given as a staged reading at the O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference. Drake is a member of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center and The Dramatists Guild of America.
The Brick Playhouse is dedicated to the revitalization of all forms of the art of theatre in the Philadelphia region. As the area's lone company dedicated exclusively to the creation, development and production of new theatre works we strive to identify and encourage emerging theatre artists. We are committed to assisting these theatre artists through the provision of real estate, constructive artistic feedback, and abundant production possibilities, all of which are necessary to develop and produce fresh, innovative and intriguing works of art. The Brick is also dedicated to the cultivation of new audiences for modern theatre through education, access, participation and affordable opportunities for the community to experience both the process and the final product that is contemporary theatre
2034 Sansom St. / Philadelphia,
PA, 19103 - Contact us: 
Awards - Reservations - Programs
- GOTs
- IBS - Mission Statement - Productions - Competitions - Staff - Links
