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“Theatregoers should find nearly two hours of engaging harmony about love and sexual identity in The Sussman Variations.“
—Bay Windows
Playwright Richard Schotter on The Sussman Variations:
The Sussman Variations began as a play about a son and his famous father. Not having had a famous father myself, but knowing a few people who did, I wanted to explore the complex mix of pride and resentment I had witnessed in their interaction. When I decided that the famous father would be Charlie Sussman, an aging Broadway composer, I knew that music would play a major role in the play. That was fine with me, since music had always played a part in my work, from my ten-minute musical, Duet for Shy People to the songs I wrote from the PBS children’s show, The Puzzle Place.
As the play developed, I added other members of the family Sussman into the mix, many of them musicians as well – Charlie’s daughter-in-law, Deirdre, a concert pianist and his granddaughter, Miranda, a budding violinist and actress. So music is not merely an aspect of the play but what the play is about – the ways in which families attempt, but don’t always succeed, in living together harmoniously.
Charlie’s son Jonathan is a Shakespeare scholar who’s editing an edition of The Tempest. As I wrote, The Tempest kept popping into my head and I realized that the plays dealt with themes and ideas that Shakespeare explored—an enchanted seaside, storms, an autocratic father and a sprightly daughter, themes of captivity and freedom, magic and language.
All of these things came together in The Sussman Variations. What I hope emerged is a lyrical, loving, and moving play about families, forgiveness, and the power of love and music.