LIGHTHOUSE BEACH

A Synopsis

Lighthouse Beach tells the story of Kristine, one of the nation’s earliest female neurosurgeons. She’s a prodigy and a pioneer, yet embattled as she seeks to navigate through the male dominated field and she faces difficult, even monumental personal choices in pursuing her career.

Kristine is buffeted over time by two romantic relationships, one with Michael, a neurosurgeon, hospital executive and her mentor, which developed during her residency at Northwestern Memorial, and the other with the romantic, and decidedly unscientific English teacher, Jeremy.  As she begins her career she is rocked by a significant conflict between its demands and opportunities and her responsibilities as the mother of  Claire.

The play, which spans the decades from the 1980’s to the present time, explores her pursuit of professional and personal perfection and her evolving relationships with Claire, Michael and Jeremy,

Themes of isolation, communication, identity, uncertainty and regret are examined through the eyes of each character. In particular, the relationship between Kristine and Claire, a prodigy in her own right, is explored both when Claire is a child and when as an adult she has embarked on her own successful musical and academic career.  In the end, Kristine comes face to face with the significant cost of her career decisions and the  estrangements she may never be able to overcome.

With doubling, as indicated, the play is staged with five actors.