I didn’t get all that when I was little, all that stuff about angels and god in heaven. I thought it was all puffy clouds and angel babies playing harps. I didn’t get the other part, the secret part, like some kinda sign. The language of angels, and how light burns.

Many years after their friend Celie goes missing in the caves near a rural North Carolina town, many of her close-knit friends recall the inexplicable impacts of her loss.  As the play unfolds, we see how Celie’s disappearance continues to affect each of them in different ways. Against the echoes of Celie’s ghostly cries, the survivors continue to struggle to unravel the mysteries of that fateful night.  In this haunting yet touching play, Iizuka weaves a story on grief, loss, guilt, and karma into a play with elements of Japanese Noh drama set in Appalachia.

Directed by faculty member Valerie Curtis-Newton (Father Comes Home from the Wars Pars 1, 2, & 3, The Best of Everything) the recipient of the 2022 University of Washington Faculty Lecture Award.

The Language of Angels
By Naomi Iizuka
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton
November 17 - December 4, 2022
    Previews November 12 & 15
Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse