All happy families

When the play “Sweet, the Breath of Children” ran in Seattle’s Odd Duck Studio last September, the Seattle Times named it a Critics’ Pick, praising the “wonderfully written” riffs and dialogue and dubbing it an “auspicious beginning” for “promising young playwright” Neil Ferron ’05. With a title taken from Euripides’ tragedy “Medea,” Ferron’s play is a dark comedy about a pair of sisters raised in an opulent and oversexed home (think Tennessee Williams) in West Hollywood. It was inspired by Ferron’s participation in a DISCOVER internship working with homeless and troubled teens in the U.S. and a fellowship assisting at an orphanage in Calcutta. While a student at SCU, Ferron said he began writing the play as a way to answer lingering questions these experiences posed, such as, “How do you move forward with respect, dignity, and practicality?”

—EE