In English with Projected English Titles
World Premiere

What stories do our monuments tell? What legacies do they embody? What memories do they cement?

Four iconic places. Four creative teams. Four intimate stories. Some of America’s most exciting artists, musicians, composers, and librettists assemble to create four unmissable world premieres as a jewel in the crown of the Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary season. Inspired by Washington D.C.’s iconic monuments and the ideals embodied by President Kennedy, Written in Stone is a series of interwoven short works presented together in a single evening. Creative teams Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran, Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, Kamala Sankaram and A.M. Homes, and Carlos Simon and Marc Bamuthi Joseph offer intimate stories that celebrate diversity and acknowledge the struggles of today’s America.

Chantal
Jason Moran, Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz, pianist, and composer
Alicia Hall Moran, renowned mezzo-soprano and multi-dimensional artist

The Morans offer a moving work to introduce the idea of “monumentalism”—the uniquely American celebration of commemorating certain people and deeds.

The Rift
Huang Ruo, award-winning composer
David Henry Hwang, Tony Award-winning playwright, librettist, and screenwriter

The controversial origin of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is at the heart of this story featuring interconnected yet conflicting characters: Maya Lin, the Chinese American student architect of the memorial’s design; a Vietnam War veteran; a Vietnamese refugee; and a government official.

Rise
Kamala Sankaram, acclaimed composer and instrumentalist
A.M. Homes, best-selling author and essayist

Bringing to life the often forgotten 1921 Portrait Monument featuring Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, and one face left uncarved, Sankaram and Homes give a voice to those whose stories have been left out of history.

it all falls down

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Kennedy Center Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact, poet, playwright, and educator

Carlos Simon, Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence and 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient

In this story of love and reconciliation, a father and son meet on opposite sides of a rally about same-sex marriage outside of the Supreme Court.