Winner, KCACTF/ATHE David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award, 2012; Reading, WSC Avant Bard Theatre, Arlington, VA, 2019; Production, KOLT Run Creations, Sacramento, 2015, dir. Kellie Raines; Production, Idiom Theatre, Bellingham, WA, 2015, dir. Shu-Ling Hergenhahn-Zhao; Production, University of Idaho, Fall 2011, dir. Robert Caisley;  Reading, Moxie Theatre's Fighting Words Festival, San Diego, March 2010, dir. Jeffrey Weinckowsi; Reading, ATHE national conference, August 2012, dir. Jeannie Woods.

 

Adoration of Dora explores the nature of art and creativity through the story of surrealist photographer and one of Picasso’s many lovers, Dora Maar. Already an accomplished photographer when she and Picasso met in 1936, Maar is perhaps best known for being Picasso’s Weeping Woman, the subject of numerous portraits painted during and after the Spanish Civil War. Maar also photographed Picasso’s progress as he painted his anti-war masterpiece, Guernica. Adoration of Dora explores the conflict that Maar felt as both artist and muse to one of the most revered creative geniuses of the 20th century. 

 

Cast size: 6 W. 

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A smartly written and sophisticated play that juggles history and politics and drama so deftly it makes for a thrilling evening of theatre. I was as challenged by this play I was enthralled by it. -- Playwright and director Robert Caisley

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Beautifully written. The play itself feels like a piece of art pulled from the period. The world it embraces is woven into the language of the play as the characters push boundaries in personal quests for self-discovery, creativity, and meaning in a war-torn era. -- Playwright Ariana Burns

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Wow, this is a very powerful play. Artistically and lyrically written with little care for realism, Simon uses history to paint a picture that is as true to women today as it is for now. The very end of the play has some seriously gut-wrenching lines. The breaking down of Dora is absolutely heart-breaking--and I think all women know what it feels like to think that you are something special, when in reality, you are only being used. A strong play about female empowerment, history, and inequality in relationships. -- Emily Hageman

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I was able to see this play in production a few years ago in Bellingham, and to this day it is still one of my favorite plays. An important look at how we reconcile our lives and identities as artists, through the lens of gender and history. -- Zoe Jovanovich

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