THE BEAUTY INSIDE
by Catherine Filloux
Brutal and poetic, this searing drama follows a promising young attorney who passes up a lucrative offer at a big U.S. law firm to defend the young survivor of an attempted honor killing in her native Turkey. Challenging barbaric traditions and a corrupt legal system, she embarks on a life-changing journey of social activism and self-discovery, while developing an extraordinary bond of sisterhood with her visionary client.
- Cast Size: 2M 3W
- Running Time: 90+ minutes
- Royalty Rate: $75 per performance
“This moving character study pits East against West, tradition against progress, and ambition against conscience, in a drama whose lyrical dialogue evokes the surprising ambivalence of this wrenching battle.”
– Elizabeth Lawler, Village Voice
“It’s a relief to see such economical storytelling – a kind of anti-Homebody/Kabul where characters say what they mean and action occurs at a lively pace. Only five actors grace the stage though it seems a dozen do – the characters are rich and cleanly drawn…The Beauty Inside joins a string of exceptional pieces performed at the 45 Below Culture Project space…These are not run-of-the mill productions, but theater with purpose.”
– Douglas Singleton, L Magazine
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About the Playwright
CATHERINE FILLOUX is an award-winning French American playwright and librettist who has been writing about human rights for many decades. Filloux’s play “How to Eat an Orange” was commissioned by INTAR, with the premiere at La MaMa in New York City. “White Savior” is nominated for The Venturous Play List. Catherine’s plays have been produced around the U.S. and internationally including: her livestream web drama “turning your body into a compass” at CultureHub, NYC; “whatdoesfreemean?” at Nora’s Playhouse, NYC; “Kidnap Road”, La MaMa, NYC; “Selma ‘65”, La MaMa and U.S. tour; “Luz”, La MaMa and Looking for Lilith in Louisville, KY.
“Dog and Wolf” (59E59 Theaters/Watson Arts, NYC and “Dog and Wolf” Community Outreach Project.); “Killing the Boss” (Cherry Lane Theatre, NYC); “Lemkin’s House” (Rideau de Bruxelles, Belgium; McGinn-Cazale Theatre & 78th Street Theatre Lab, NYC; Kamerni teatar 55, Sarajevo, Bosnia); “The Beauty Inside” (New Georges, NYC and InterAct, Philadelphia; also translated into Arabic for a workshop at ISADAC in Rabat, Morocco; and produced in Iraq, in Kurdish by ArtRole.) “Eyes of the Heart” (National Asian American Theatre Co., NYC); “Silence of God” (Contemporary American Theater Festival [CATF], WV); “Mary and Myra” (CATF and Todd Mountain Theater, NY); “Arthur’s War” (commissioned by Theatreworks/ USA, NYC); “Photographs From S-21”, a short play produced throughout the world; “Escuela del Mundo” (commissioned by The Ohio State University, Columbus, and Ohio tour.)
Filloux is the librettist for four produced operas: “New Arrivals” (Houston Grand Opera, composer John Glover); “Where Elephants Weep” (Chenla Theatre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, composer Him Sophy) and broadcast on national television in Cambodia; “The Floating Box” (Asia Society, NYC, composer Jason Kao Hwang) an Opera News Critic’s Choice and released by New World Records. Catherine is co-librettist with composer Olga Neuwirth for the opera “Orlando” which premiered at the Vienna State Opera and is a Grawemeyer Award winner. Filloux’s new musical “Welcome to the Big Dipper” (composer Jimmy Roberts, co-book writer John Daggett) was a National Alliance for Musical Theatre finalist and received a workshop at the Redhouse Arts Center in Syracuse, NY. Opera in development: Thresh’s “L’Orient” (composer Kamala Sankaram, choreographer Preeti Vasudevan.)
Catherine has traveled for her plays to Bosnia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Morocco, and to Sudan and South Sudan on an overseas reading tour with the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program; Filloux was invited to Belfast, Northern Ireland for the Henry Smith Artist in Residence Programme with The Derry Playhouse. She served as a Juror for Sarajevo’s MES International Theater Festival and developed the Oral History Project “A Circle of Grace” with the Cambodian Women’s Group at St. Rita’s Refugee Center in Bronx, NY. Her plays have been widely anthologized and written about. Filloux was the Playwright Facilitator for the International Playwright Retreat at La MaMa Umbria in Italy and is a Fulbright Senior Specialist. She received her French Baccalaureate in Philosophy with Honors in Toulon, France, and her M.F.A. at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing, NYC. Catherine is featured in the documentary film “Acting Together on the World Stage” and is the co-founder of Theatre Without Borders.
Review The Beauty Inside.