The red letter plays

by Suzan-Lori Parks

Two plays expanding on Hawthorne's classic novel "The scarlet letter." In the blood: Hester La Negrita, an unapologetic mother of five illegitimate children, practices writing the alphabet to help herself "one day get a leg up." Fucking A: Hester Smith works the only job available to her, as an abortionist to the lower class, in order to save for a reunion picnic with her imprisoned son.