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49-578: Marin Theatre is home to the 231-seat Boyer Theatre and 99-seat Lieberman Studio Theatre. Notable past productions include the Bay Area premiere of Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man , the 10th Anniversary revival of Suzan-Lori Parks 's Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning Topdog/Underdog , the Bay Area premiere of Annie Baker 's Circle Mirror Transformation , the West Coast premiere of Keith Huff's A Steady Rain ,

98-481: A census-designated place (Aberdeen Proving Ground CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau. As of the 2020 census , the resident population was 1,668. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,116 people, 805 households, and 763 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 274.1 inhabitants per square mile (105.8/km ). There were 902 housing units at an average density of 79.3 per square mile (30.6/km ). The racial makeup of

147-471: A November 2022 premiere at Joe's Pub , with Parks onstage singing and starring. The Harder They Come , Parks's musical adaptation of the 1972 Jamaican reggae film was staged at the Public Theater in 2023. In 2001, Parks married blues musician Paul Oscher ; they divorced in 2010. By 2017, she married Christian Konopka, with whom she has a child. Parks noted in an interview that her name

196-578: A bar in Manhattan's Lower East Side called Gas Station. It is a short, one-act play set in Kentucky, centering around the lives of a couple, Mare and Lucius, who have been married for 110 years. The play's title comes from the horse that won the Kentucky Derby in 1970, Dust Commander . As the play goes on, we discover that Dust Commander's Derby is responsible for bringing Mare and Lucius together, and through

245-475: A blend of humor and dignity." The Red Letter Plays refers to Fucking A and In the Blood , two plays incorporating themes from The Scarlet Letter . Both plays have a mother named Hester struggling in a society where they put her in the role of outcast. The first play, In the Blood , premiered in 1999 and follows the story of Hester, a penniless mother of five who is condemned by the men who once loved her. In

294-473: A career officer in the United States Army , was stationed. The experience showed her "what it feels like to be neither white nor black, but simply foreign". After returning to the U.S., her family relocated frequently and Parks went to school in Kentucky, Texas , California , North Carolina , Maryland , and Vermont . She graduated high school from The John Carroll School in 1981, while her father

343-521: A golf clubhouse, a veterans’ auditorium and several schools and parks. To acknowledge the organization’s specialization in theater arts and expand regional focus, MVCPA changed its name to Marin Theatre Company (MTC) in 1984. This marked the beginning of a period of extraordinary growth. By 1987, MTC had become a professional theater company, opening its own theater complex with onsite administrative offices and joining with other local theaters to negotiate

392-618: A play about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings , began performances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis . Plays for the Plague Year , an anthology of plays and songs, described by The New York Times as "Parks's diaristic musings on the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and a coincident string of deaths, including those of Black Americans killed by police officers", was scheduled for

441-569: A playwright; Parks was initially resistant to writing for theater, believing it was elitist and cliquey. Parks, at his behest, began to write plays. Baldwin considered her talent as amazing. Parks then studied acting for a year at Drama Studio London . Parks was inspired by Wendy Wasserstein , who won the Pulitzer in 1989 for her play The Heidi Chronicles , and by her Mount Holyoke professor, Leah Blatt Glasser . Parks has written three screenplays and numerous stage plays. Her first screenplay

490-795: A result, the net change is a loss of 3,411 military jobs and a gain of 5,371 civilian jobs. Although civilian contractors produced the major portion of conventional munitions for World War I , the United States government built federally owned plants on Aberdeen Proving Ground for the manufacture of toxic gas. These poison gas manufacturing facilities came to be known as Edgewood Arsenal. Edgewood Arsenal included plants to manufacture mustard gas , chloropicrin and phosgene , and separate facilities to fill artillery shells with these chemicals. Production began in 1918, reached 2,756 short tons (2,500 t) per month, and totaled 10,817 short tons (9,813 t) of toxic gas manufactured at Edgewood Arsenal before

539-577: A wind tunnel, test grids, and small buildings. Edgewood Chemical Activity is a chemical-weapons depot located at APG. Elimination of the chemicals held here was put on an accelerated schedule after the September 11, 2001, attacks , and all chemical weapons were destroyed by February 2006. Fort Hoyle was established on October 7, 1922, and was created from a portion of the Edgewood Arsenal. Named for Brigadier General Eli D. Hoyle , who had commanded

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588-475: Is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen , Harford County , Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, including: APG is the U.S. Army's oldest active proving ground , established on October 20, 1917, six months after the U.S. entered World War I . The planning and construction were overseen by Brigadier General Colden Ruggles , who later served as

637-550: Is a test track with hills that provide steep natural grades and tight turns to stress engines , drivetrains , and suspensions for army vehicles, including M1 Abrams tanks , Bradley Fighting Vehicles , and Humvees . The eastern half of Carroll Island was used as a testing location for open air static testing of chemical weapons since the 1950s. During tests of chemical agents and other compounds at Carroll Island, Maryland, from July 1, 1964, to December 31, 1971, nearly 6.5 short tons (5.9 t) of chemicals were disseminated on

686-507: Is a designated habitat for bald eagles. A scandal at the APG surfaced in 1996. The U.S. Army brought charges against twelve commissioned and non-commissioned male officers for sexual assault of female trainees under their command. Following campaigning by PETA , the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and other organizations, the U.S. military announced in 2011 that it

735-478: Is known today as Marin Theatre. 37°53′50″N 122°32′10″W  /  37.897297°N 122.536137°W  / 37.897297; -122.536137 Suzan-Lori Parks Suzan-Lori Parks (born May 10, 1963) is an American playwright , screenwriter , musician and novelist . Her play Topdog/Underdog won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002; Parks was the first African-American woman to receive

784-649: Is one of those." After her book Getting Mother's Body was published, Parks gave herself the task of writing 365 plays in 365 days, ultimately produced as 365 Plays/365 Days . The plays were presented by 725 performing arts groups, taking turns until the entire cycle was performed. The performances started in 2006 at The Public Theater in New York City, and included venues such as the Denver Center Theatre Company, colleges in England and Australia and

833-628: Is spelled with a "Z" as the result of a misprint early in her career: When I was doing one of my first plays in the East Village , we had fliers printed up and they spelled my name wrong. I was devastated. But the director said, 'Just keep it, honey, and it will be fine.' And it was. She teaches playwriting at Tisch School of the Arts in the Rita & Burton Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing. Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground ( APG )

882-484: The 6th Field Artillery Regiment , the post was home to Headquarters, 1st Field Artillery Brigade (1922 to 1939), the 6th Field Artillery Regiment (1922 to 1940), the 1st Ammunition Train (1922 to 1930), and the 99th Field Artillery Regiment (minus 2nd Battalion) (1940 to 1941). Fort Hoyle was officially disestablished as a separate military post when it was reabsorbed by Edgewood Arsenal on September 10, 1940. The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Museum previously located at APG,

931-634: The Bush River . The northeastern is known as the Aberdeen Area and the southwestern is called the Edgewood Area (formerly the Edgewood Arsenal ). According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 12.0 square miles (31.1 km ), of which 11.4 square miles (29.5 km ) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km ) (5.09%) is water. For statistical purposes the base is delineated as

980-522: The MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant in 2001. She is a winner of the 2017 Poets, Essayists and Novelists (PEN) America Literary Awards in the category Master American Dramatist. She received the 2018 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. This biennial award is given to "established playwrights whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theatre." Although Betting on

1029-587: The 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play and Parks won the 2015 Obie Award for playwriting presented by the American Theater Wing . The play, which takes place during the American Civil War , is presented in three parts: Part 1, A Measure of a Man; Part 2, The Battle in the Wilderness; and Part 3, The Union of My Confederate Parts. From September 15 to October 22, 2016,

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1078-552: The Army's Chief of Ordnance . Its location allowed design and testing of ordnance materiel to take place near contemporary industrial and shipping centers. The proving ground was created as a successor to the Sandy Hook Proving Ground , which was too small for some of the larger weapons being tested. At the peak of World War II , APG had billeting space for 2,348 officers and 24,189 enlisted personnel. A notable scientist

1127-508: The Blood was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama . Fucking A premiered in 2000 and tells the story of Hester, an "abortionist" trying to free her son from prison. In 2017, Signature Theatre Company produced these two plays in the same season. Parks said: "They were conceived from the same idea but until now have lived very separate lives. I can't wait to participate in the dialogue that will come from witnessing these two works in concert." In October 2022, Sally & Tom ,

1176-434: The CDP was 50.5% White , 34.6% African American, 0.6% Native American , 3.1% Asian , 1.3% Pacific Islander , 5.7% from other races , and 4.2% from two or more races; 11.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 40.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 44.9% from 25 to 44, 4.4% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

1225-828: The County Department of Public Works and the well field used by the Joppatowne Sanitary Subdistrict serve 35,000 people within 3 miles (4.8 km) of the site. On-site groundwater sampling has identified perchlorate , various metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and chemical warfare agent degradation products. On-site soil contamination sampling has identified various VOCs, metals, and unexploded ordnance in surface and subsurface soil. On-site surface water sampling has identified various metals, pesticides, phosphorus, and VOCs. People who accidentally ingest or come in direct contact with contaminated groundwater, surface water, soil, or sediments may be at risk. The area

1274-520: The Dust Commander was not the first play Parks wrote, it was the first of her plays to be produced. Her first play The Sinner's Place , which she wrote for her senior project at Mount Holyoke, was rejected for production by her college's drama department as they considered it too experimental since she wanted to have dirt on the stage during the performance. When her second play, Betting on the Dust Commander, first premiered, it ran for three nights in

1323-673: The November 1918 armistice. Some of this gas was shipped overseas for use in French and British artillery shells. The Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground is approximately 13,000 acres (5,300 ha) or 20.31 square miles (52.6 km ). The Edgewood area was used for the development and testing of chemical agent munitions. From 1917 to the present, the Edgewood area conducted chemical research programs, manufactured chemical agents, and tested, stored, and disposed of toxic materials. From 1955 to 1975,

1372-1045: The Steel City Theatre Company in Pueblo, Colorado . Other venues were the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles. Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3 premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theater in a developmental production in March 2014 and a full production that fall. Directed by Jo Bonney , the cast featured Sterling K. Brown , Louis Cancelmi , Peter Jay Fernandez, Russell G. Jones, and Jacob Ming-Trent . Jacob Ming-Trent won

1421-467: The U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified medical studies at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to test protective clothing and pharmaceuticals. About 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments that involved exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the Department of Defense (DoD). Some of

1470-517: The award for drama. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023. Parks was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky . She grew up with two siblings in a military family. Parks enjoyed writing poems and songs and created a newspaper with her brother, called the "Daily Daily." Parks was raised Catholic and attended high school in West Germany , where her father,

1519-400: The couple's discussion of him they think back over their many years of memories together. Poet Philip Kolin argues that Parks's incorporation of non-linear time and a repetitive style is reminiscent of African rituals and the way that their retelling of stories often incorporate the past in a literal manner. One of her best-known works is Topdog/Underdog . This play marked a departure from

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1568-520: The first regional equity contract in the Bay Area. MTC began a new play program to support emerging American playwrights, launching a New Works developmental workshop and public reading series in 2004 and establishing two new play prizes in 2007. MTC joined the League of Resident Theatres and the National New Play Network in 2008. The organization discontinued use of the term "Company" in 2024, and

1617-411: The heightened language she usually wrote. Parks is an admirer of Abraham Lincoln and believed he left a legacy for descendants of slaves. It tells the story of two African-American brothers: Lincoln and Booth. Lincoln works at a boardwalk arcade, dressing up like Abraham Lincoln and letting the tourists shoot him with plastic guns. He got this job because he could be paid less than the white man who had

1666-534: The job before. Author Joshua Wolf Shenk argues that Parks does not judge Lincoln in this play, but rather enjoys bringing him into the other characters' lives and seeing how they are affected. In an interview, Parks said, "Lincoln is the closest thing we have to a mythic figure. In days of Greek drama, they had Apollo and Medea and Oedipus – these larger than life figures that walked the earth and spoke – and they turned them into plays. Shakespeare had kings and queens that he fashioned into his stories. Lincoln, to me,

1715-525: The land areas of the site contain contaminated or potentially contaminated sites and potentially buried ordnance. Substances disposed of in the area include significant quantities of napalm, white phosphorus, and chemical agents. On-site surface waters include rivers, streams, and wetlands. Edgewood area standby water supply wells in the Canal Creek area previously served approximately 3,000 people. The wells have been abandoned. The Long Bar Harbor well field of

1764-694: The melting point of the fuel in the core, 1150 °C. This caused damage to the fuel components of the reactor, fusing the four central rings together. This is one of thirty-three prompt critical accidents worldwide, between 1949 and 2000. Under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, as announced in 2005, the APG is projected to lose the Ordnance School and associated R&D facilities with 3862 military and 290 civilian jobs moving to Fort Gregg-Adams , Virginia. APG will gain 451 military and 5,661 civilian jobs from Fort Monmouth , New Jersey . As

1813-640: The play had its London premiere at the Royal Court in a transfer of the Public Theatre production directed by Jo Bonney. The cast featured Steve Toussaint , Nadine Marshall, Leo Wringer , Sibusiso Mamba, Tom Bateman , and Jimmy Akingbola . The play was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama . The Pulitzer committee wrote: "A distinctive and lyrical epic about a slave during the Civil War that deftly takes on questions of identity, power and freedom with

1862-783: The poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. The Edgewood area of the Aberdeen Proving Ground site was proposed to the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites requiring long term remedial action on April 10, 1985. The site was formally added to the National Priorities List on February 21, 1990. The Edgewood area has large areas of land and water and numerous buildings that are contaminated or suspected of contamination. Virtually all

1911-785: The shoreline of Poole's Island, Aberdeen Proving Ground using Agent Orange and Agent Orange Plus foam. The Gunpowder Meetinghouse and Presbury Meetinghouse located within the grounds of Edgewood Arsenal are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Other parts of APG not attached to the main installation include the Churchville Test Area in Harford County , and the Carroll Island and Graces Quarters in Baltimore County , Maryland. The Churchville Test Area

1960-427: The test area including 4,600 pounds (2,100 kg) of irritants, 655 pounds (297 kg) of anticholinesterase compounds such as the nerve gasses Sarin and VX, and 263 pounds (119 kg) of incapacitants such as LSD. Simulant agents, incendiaries, decontaminating compounds, signaling and screening smokes, mustard, and herbicides were also released as well as riot control gasses. The test sites consisted of spray grids,

2009-449: The volunteers exhibited symptoms at the time of exposure to these agents but long-term follow-up was not planned as part of the DoD studies. The agents tested included chemical warfare agents and other related agents: During the week of July 14, 1969, personnel from Naval Applied Science Laboratory in conjunction with personnel from Limited War Laboratory conducted a defoliation test along

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2058-581: The world premiere of Steve Yockey's Bellwether , the world premiere of Libby Appel 's adaptation of Anton Chekhov 's The Seagull , the world premiere of Bill Cain 's 2011 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award -winning 9 Circles , the West Coast premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney 's In the Red & Brown Water , and the Bay Area premiere of Bill Cain's 2010 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award -winning Equivocation . Marin Theatre

2107-603: Was James B. Conant , who helped develop Lewisite at Aberdeen, went on to become the President of Harvard, and oversaw the Manhattan Project for OSRD . Aberdeen was home to the Army Pulse Radiation Facility Reactor, in 1968. On September 6, 1968, this reactor was the site of a prompt critical excursion during commissioning tests. This accident harmed no personnel but did release enough heat to reach

2156-404: Was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $ 38,875, and the median income for a family was $ 40,306. Males had a median income of $ 26,943 versus $ 26,194 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $ 12,808. About 4.2% of families and 5.6% of the population were below

2205-404: Was for Spike Lee 's 1996 film Girl 6 . She later worked with Oprah Winfrey 's Harpo Productions on screenplays for Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) and The Great Debaters (2007). Parks became the first female African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama , which was awarded in 2002 for her play Topdog/Underdog . She has also received a number of grants including

2254-724: Was founded in 1966 as the Mill Valley Center for the Performing Arts (MVCPA) when 35 Mill Valley residents came together under the leadership of Sali Lieberman. The nonprofit organization brought arts as diverse as film, theater, poetry, dance and concerts of classical, jazz and folk music to Marin County for a decade. After a number of successful community theater productions, MVCPA began to exclusively produce and present theater performances in 1977. The small group overcame many challenges to put on critically acclaimed, award-winning plays in

2303-586: Was moved to Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia , as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act. APG occupies a land area of 293 square kilometres (113 sq mi). Its northernmost point is near the mouth of the Susquehanna River , where the river enters the Chesapeake Bay , while on the south, it is bordered by the Gunpowder River . The installation lies on two peninsulas separated by

2352-429: Was replacing its use of monkeys in the Army's nerve-agent attack training courses with human simulators and other non-animal teaching methods. The training drills had been carried out on vervet monkeys and conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground. A Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) broke free from its mooring station on APG October 28, 2015. It traveled for three hours through

2401-676: Was stationed in Aberdeen Proving Ground . In high school, Parks was discouraged from studying literature by at least one teacher, but upon reading Virginia Woolf 's To the Lighthouse , Parks found herself veering away from her interest in chemistry, gravitating towards writing. Parks attended Mount Holyoke College and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa . She graduated in 1985 with a B.A. degree in English and German literature. She studied under James Baldwin , who encouraged her to become

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