The Syringa Tree is a deeply personal story of an abiding love between two families—one white, one black —and the two children that are born into their shared South African household in the early 1960s. Spanning four generations, the story is told first by six-year-old Elizabeth Grace, as she tries to make sense of the chaos, magic, and darkness of Africa. In a performance that the New York Times proclaimed “a real tour de force,” Playwright and former A.R.T. Company member Pamela Gien inhabits twenty-four characters. By transforming from black to white, from old to young, from Xhosa to Afrikaans to Zulu to Jewish, she reveals the complexities of her characters’ dreams, struggles, losses, and laughter.
Winner: OBIE Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award, Outer Critics’ Circle Award.
Following an on-stage injury to Pamela Gien, A.R.T. alumna Gin Hammond (left) stepped into a role she played to great acclaim in the national tour. The San Francisco Chronicle called her performance “breathtakingly versatile, superb, graceful, emotionally generous, impressive,” and The Washington Post added, “every moment with this gifted young actress feels special.” Ms. Hammond has received a Helen Hayes Award as Outstanding Lead Actress for her performance of The Syringa Tree.
