Aphasia: A Play That Gives Voice to Silence
Marc J. Straus brings a verse-driven tribute to his mother to Studio Theater in Exile at Hudson Valley MOCA Nov. 14–16
By Ariana Almeida-Martínez, ariana@peekskillherald.com
Noise, chaos, stretchers. A rush of people in hospital gowns. Some are doctors, others patients. And in the middle, her. Silence. A word trapped on her lips. That is how Aphasia: A Play in Verse begins—the work written and performed by poet and oncologist Marc J. Straus. It will be on stage Nov. 14–16 at the Studio Theater in Exile, inside Hudson Valley MOCA.
The piece, directed by Mara Mills with stage production by Jeremy Gratt, unfolds in an intimate and vibrant format. A story so tangible it almost touches the skin. The setting: the Black Box Theater at the museum. The stage design is minimal, with no large cast. Only one man on stage—capable of stirring emotions with quiet intensity. It is Straus embodying his mother, Dora Straus, a disciplined, brilliant, competitive woman.
The play—performed Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.—tells her story after she suffered a massive stroke that left her paralyzed on the right side and with aphasia, a disorder that impairs speech but not understanding. From that motionless yet conscious body, Dora remembers, grows angry, jokes, loves, and says goodbye.
Dora Straus, the inspiration for the play written and performed by her son, MarcJ. Straus. (Hudson Valley MOCA)
The story is real. It happened when Dora was 76. The stroke took away her voice, and her son—doctor, researcher, writer—turned that loss into verse. On stage, Marc speaks not as a physician or as a poet, but as a son lending his breath and words to his mother. The work moves between lucidity and helplessness, between science and poetry, between voice and a body that no longer obeys.
Aphasia is presented as a play in verse, a theatrical work written entirely in poetry. The dramaturgy transforms what is clinical into what is human, turning diagnosis into testimony. As poet and MacArthur Fellow Eleanor Wilner described, it is “a wonderfully rich, idiosyncratic portrait in a living, convincing voice”—an act of respect and a requiem for Dora and for those who live inside silence.
Tickets are available through this link. The Friday performance costs $35 and includes a reception and conversation with the author, while the Saturday and Sunday shows are $30, with a reduced rate of $25 for seniors, students, and museum members. Seating is limited, in keeping with the chamber format of the space.
Marc J. Straus is no stranger to Peekskill. He is co-founder of Hudson Valley MOCA with his wife, Livia Straus, and founder of the Marc Straus Gallery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. His literary work includes four poetry collections published by TriQuarterly/Northwestern University Press, with poems appearing in The Kenyon Reviewand Ploughshares. He also served as Chair of Oncology and Professor of Medicine before devoting himself fully to art and writing.
This is not his first venture into theater. In his debut, Not God, he explored the ethical and emotional boundaries of medical practice. That production was staged in theaters across the country, including Off-Broadway and university hospitals.