The Valerie of Now & Imagining Brad

Chatting on the telephone, or to herself, Valerie contemplates the injustice of having to deal with the fears and excitement of momentous physical change even though, outwardly, she is still very much a little girl

And, in addition, a darker note is sounded with the suggestion that Valerie has also been subjected to molestation by her father

A brilliantly conceived absurdist comedy which, in two free-standing but related acts (with Imagining Brad), uses bizarre theatricality to reveal the often disquieting facts about the true relationship of men and women in contemporary society

Imagining Brad ~ The action takes place in Nashville, where two women meet after church and strike up a conversation. One is Dana Sue Kaye, a brassy, voluble bleach-blonde, who chatters on about her wonderful, perfect husband - her high-school sweetheart and the "best looking man in Tennessee" The other is Brad's wife (Valerie grown), a shy, soft-spoken newlywed who has just moved down from Philadelphia and is as close-mouthed about her husband as Dana Sue is forthcoming about hers In time, however, it is revealed that Brad is a grotesque freak: armless, legless, blind and bedridden; while Dana Sue's husband is unmasked as a depraved, brutal wife abuser who, in truth, has made her life a hell. Ironically it is actually Brad, the helpless "bag of flesh," who can feel but not inflict hurt, who is really the "perfect man" and, as the play ends, Dana Sue is sorely tempted to accept Brad's wife's invitation to move in with them and share his protection

A brilliantly conceived absurdist comedy which, in two free-standing but related acts (with ), uses bizarre theatricality to reveal the often disquieting facts about the true relationship of men and women in contemporary society

First produced by New York's celebrated Circle Repertory Company, the plays marked the debut of a young writer of singular inventiveness and originality

" disturbing and arresting Hedges is a major writing talent" ~ NY Post

"Imagining Brad is a startling, surprising, and supremely original new comedy " ~ BackStage

" provocative and entertaining theater" ~ Hollywood Reporter