But none of these people disturb her complacency quite as much as the "new kid in town," her TA and graduate advisee, RICHARD AMADO, who has just arrived on campus. Richard, 28, is a spirited, charismatic Latino with a mind of his own. As the semester commences, we see Elizabeth's straightforward lectures juxtaposed with Richard's much more unorthodox discussion groups. Elizabeth calls a meeting with him, but finds the iconoclastic young man not so easy to rein in. And to add to it, he admits to a long-standing admiration for her. Other meetings follow, both professional and casual, during which a growing mutual attraction develops, an attraction which eventually causes Elizabeth to seriously question her image of herself as a rational and ethical being. This intense "dialectical tension" forces each of them, in the end, to act most unusually, she plummeting into emotion, he taking the more rational road. It is only when Elizabeth emerges from this struggle, re-evaluating not only her world view, but the people within her world she had once so carelessly judged, that this woman of the mind finds the synthesis that allows her to unite mind and heart into a new whole.
 
Note: Winner of Jewel Box Theatre's Original Playwrighting Competition.
 
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 110 - 115 Minutes
Cast: (Male/Female): 3/2