An instant success, The Syringa Tree ran for almost two years Off-Broadway and has since been seen in London, throughout the United States, Toronto and Vancouver, and around the world. It is the winner of the OBIE Best Play of the Year Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Drama League Award, the Outer Critics' Circle Award and was hailed by NY Magazine as "one of the five best plays of the year."

The Syringa Tree's subtle warmth continues to attract audiences and critics. The New York Times called it "Instantly engaging, exotic, complex, deeply shocking…" In The New Republic, Robert Brustein called it "uncommonly moving…a transcendent dramatic experience." O (Oprah) Magazine said, "The Syringa Tree is a revelation! As huge and grand as an opera, but as intimate as a ballet," and the Associated Press raved, "Astonishing… Affecting… [with] a dramatic and heartbreaking conclusion…A deceptive sweet simplicity haunts The Syringa Tree."

Seen first through the eyes of six-year-old Elizabeth Grace, The Syringa Tree traces the lives of her family, her nanny, her nanny's child, and their servants, friends and neighbors from the early years of apartheid in the 1960's to the contemporary post-apartheid nation. While life in her prosperous Johannesburg neighborhood appears calm, the political reality will eventually touch everyone in her life. In a story that The New Yorker called "emotionally powerful without being overtly political," Pamela Gien ultimately confronts the human effects of apartheid on a generation of South Africans, both black and white.

The Syringa Tree stars Caroline Cave, winner of the 2006 Jessie Award (Vancouver) and a 2005 Dora Award (Toronto); both for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Lead Role for The Syringa Tree. Audiences will marvel at Caroline Cave's tour-de-force performance as she plays a cast of twenty-six characters (black, white, old, young, Xhosa, Afrikaaner, Zulu, English, and Jewish). Through her turn-on-a-dime transformations, she gradually reveals not just the complexities of the world they share to us - their dreams, struggles, laughter, and tragic losses - but also their shared humanity. When at the end both families are shown to have gained a hard won closure, in compassion and forgiveness, audiences have been left stunned.

Don't miss this mesmerizing drama directed by Larry Moss, acclaimed actor, director, teacher and acting coach to stars like Helen Hunt, Hilary Swank, Hank Azaria, Tobey Maguire, and Leonardo DiCaprio among others. Moss is founding director of the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica and an award-winning Broadway and film director whose credits include Runt of the Litter, the short film Dos Corazones, Who is Floyd Stearn? Beast on the Moon and RFK. The Syringa Tree is produced by Matt Salinger, and the technical team includes Set designer Kenneth Foy, Lighting designer Steven B. Mannshardt, Sound designer Tony Suraci, Lighting Supervisor Jared Hirsch and Stage Manager Rick Rinder. -- www.centaurtheatre.com