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The Good Counselor

Evelyn Laverty stands accused of killing her baby. The assigned lawyer, Vincent Heffernan, normally adept, finds himself struggling with her defense, even as his mother and his church-centered, African-American community call for her harsh punishment. Evelyn is a difficult client and Vincent loses compassion as she becomes increasingly more resistant to his efforts to discover the truth and mount a defense. Adding to the static, Vincent’s brother Ray, a recovering addict, falls off the wagon once again. And when Vincent and Evelyn edge ever closer to the truth about her son’s death, Vincent confronts some similarly difficult truths about his mother. As he comes to see how poverty and isolation complicated Evelyn’s mothering choices, he must also come to terms with the ways his mother managed her family in similar circumstances.

AWARDS

The Jerry Kaufman Award in Playwriting

The Premiere Stages Awards

2011 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award

FULL PRODUCTIONS

2015 • 1st Stage at Tyson's

2010 • Premiere Stages - Union, NJ

            Directed by John Wooten

WORKSHOPS & READINGS

2008 • LAByrinth's Summer                                  Intensive

2007 • The Barrow Group Theater

            Abingdon Theater

            The Actor's Studio PD Unit

2006 • Ensemble Studio Theater

            The American Renaissance                        Theater

            Drew University Plays in                            Process

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