The Kentucky Cycle

The Pulitzer Prize–winning cycle of one-act plays spanning two centuries of American history: “hauntingly memorable [with a] poetic impulse” (Time). One of the most important contemporary works of political theater, The Kentucky Cycle ... Read more

The Pulitzer Prize–winning cycle of one-act plays spanning two centuries of American history: “hauntingly memorable [with a] poetic impulse” (Time). One of the most important contemporary works of political theater, The Kentucky Cycle was awarded the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for its astute and dramatically epic investigation of the brutal birth of America. Set in the Appalachian Mountains and spanning seven generations—from 1775 to 1975—this saga of rural Kentucky digs beneath our American mythology to confront the truth of our national history. It is the story of three families whose lives are irrevocably intertwined as they struggle for control over a portion of the Cumberland Plateau. From the darker realities of our pioneer heritage to the bloody lessons of the Civil War, and from the Unionization of coal miners to the harsh environmental legacy of strip mining, this fascinating work chronicles the lives of ordinary people struggling to find a better place for themselves in an unpredictable world. “Serious drama with a dark center . . . an epic.” —The New Yorker “Riveting theater . . . [a] monumental work.” —Los Angeles Times Less