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NEW YORK, NY – Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage. Mlima’s Tale was originally developed and produced by The Public Theater in New York and had its world premiere in the spring of 2018. The play had its regional premiere at Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut in the fall of 2019.

“A beautiful, endlessly echoing portrait of a murder and its afterlife. Ms. Nottage shaped this story with such theatrical inventiveness and discipline that it never feels sensational… A finely wrought fusion of elements.” —Ben Brantley, New York Times

Continuing in her tradition of crafting thought-provoking, socially conscious dramas, Lynn Nottage’s play tells the story of Mlima, an elephant struck down by poachers for his magnificent tusks. Beginning in a game park in Kenya, the play tracks the trajectory of Mlima’s tusks through the ivory trade market while Mlima’s ghost follows close behind—marking all those complicit in his barbaric death.

“An enthralling piece of theater that tells a fascinating story in a daringly original way… Riveting.” —Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal

Lynn Nottage is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prize Awards for Drama for Sweat and Ruined. She is the first woman playwright to be honored twice. Her other plays include Clyde’s; the book for the musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees; Intimate Apparel; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; and Las Meninas.

Theatre Communications Group would like to offer our special thanks to The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and its generous donors, Ann Scheuer, Ann Cady Scott, Pat and Ken Schutte, Gwen and Paul Middeke, Lori Moore-McMullen and Kevin McMullen (in memoriam), Wendi Alper-Pressman and Norman Pressman, Susan and Peter Tuteur, and Judi Scissors and Sam Broh, for their support of the publication of Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis is dedicated to excellence in producing an eclectic range of live theatre.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Since its founding in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 Member Theatres and affiliate organizations and over 7,000 Individual Members. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year. TCG offers networking and knowledge-building opportunities through research, communications, and events, including the annual TCG National Conference, one of the largest nationwide gatherings of theatre people; awards grants and scholarships to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America’s largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature, with 18 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. TCG believes its vision of “a better world for theatre, and a better world because of theatre” can be achieved through individual and collective action, adaptive and responsive leadership, and equitable representation in all areas of practice. TCG is led by executive director and CEO Teresa Eyring and deputy director and COO Adrian Budhu. https://circle.tcg.org/ 

Mlima’s Tale

By Lynn Nottage

96 pages

September 2021

$15.95

Paperback

978-1-55936-599-4

eBook

978-1-55936-911-4

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