An enthralling, sharp-witted, and autobiographical story about the aftermath of being drugged and raped while attending San Francisco’s annual Bay to Breakers event, Marlowe’s piece has already generated local and national attention for the issues it raises about how rape cases are handled even in enlightened cities like San Francisco. The play comes at a moment when Congress is expected to approve funding to examine untested DNA evidence from rape kits held by state and local police departments across the country.
First directed by Berkeley Rep regular Jean-Michele Gregory (The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, The Last Cargo Cult, 21 Dog Years), The Haze spotlights the absurdity of our current systems for dealing with the crime of rape. Says director Gregory, “While this story is sadly all too common, Heather Marlowe is not: Thanks to her talent and wit, she’s able to get past the grief to shine a light into our silence around rape on a personal, social, and political level. Her story is daring and astonishing—and frequently funny, because part of Marlowe’s gift is her ability to find the absurd and the beautiful in the midst of the banal and the horrible.”
ABOUT THE HAZE:
The Haze began its development in 2012 and has received workshops in San Francisco and New York. The Haze is a 2013-14 recipient of The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts grant in San Francisco.
The Haze has been featured several times on San Francisco’s ABC7 news with Dan Noyes and earlier workshop presentations ultimately resulted in the San Francisco Police Department auditing and releasing the numbers of their rape kit backlog.
Supporters of The Haze include: The Center For Investigative Reporting, San Francisco Women Against Rape, Shalom Bayit, and Actual Films.
ABOUT THE WRITER AND PERFORMER:
Heather Marlowe (Performer/Playwright) has been on stage as an actress/performer, dancer, and musician since 2007. She has studied theater and performance with Kristin Linklater, Gabrielle Roth, and at Berkeley Repertory and American Conservatory Theater. Her work has been most recently seen at Porchlight Storytelling Series, W. Kamau Bell’s Solo Performance Workshop, and Boxcar Theatre. As a violinist and vocalist she has performed with San Francisco based bands Thee Landlords and Winchester Revival. Heather is currently working on Girl Scout Cookies, a screenplay about a porn star on the lam who must confront her dark past after being stuck taking care of her older brother’s rebellious foster child for the summer.