Written and performed by Marc J. Straus
Directed by Mara Mills
Stage production by Jeremy Gratt

At The Studio Theater in Exile, Black Box Theater

in Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY.

Dora Straus awakens in an E.R. with a massive stroke with paralysis on her right side and aphasia; she understands everything but cannot make herself understood. At age 76 she graduated college as a valedictorian. Dora, a tough, brilliant, competitive, opiniated disciplinarian, now faces the world soundless, and totally dependent. In this play in verse written by her eldest son, Marc, she takes full stock of her life. It is at times sad, funny, angry, and above all honest.

Marc J. Straus, the author, also assumes the role of Dora. He has channeled Dora’s story through these poignant soliloquies and in so doing he speaks for her. As Eleanor Wilner (recipient of a MacArthur Award for poetry) writes, in this “wonderfully rich, idiosyncratic portrait in a convincing, living voice the Dora of these soliloquies comes strongly alive… an act of respect and homage to her and her life … and also to create a requiem.”

Marc J. Straus is a renowned poet with four collections, three from TriQuarterly Northwestern University Press. His poems have appeared in most of the leading literary journals including The Kenyon Review and Ploughshares. He is the recipient of numerous awards including The Robert Penn Warren Annual Award Lecture in the Humanities from Yale, and a residency at Yaddo. Marc is a former Chairman of Oncology and Professor of Medicine. In 2011 he opened MARC STRAUS, a gallery in New York City. He and his wife Livia are leading art collectors and in 2001 founded Hudson Valley MOCA in Peekskill, NY.

APHASIA is his second play. NOT GOD has been performed in theaters across the US including Off Broadway.

Performance DATES

Friday, November 14th, 2025
7:00pm

Reception and Writer Talk Back / Q&A

Saturday, November 15th, 2025
7:00pm

with Writer Talk Back / Q&A

Sunday, November 16th, 2025
3:00pm

with Writer Talk Back / Q&A