The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois

Adam Rapp is back with an uncompromising new work

Adam Rapp returns with a masterly and searing look at mental illness in his latest work, which premiered at South Coast Rep in 2013. Purple Lights follows the story of bipolar sufferer Ellis Shook, who is 13 years out of a mental institution with a menial job buffing floors at night. He lives a simple, quiet existence, until the sudden arrival of two teenage girls one night, who are in need of his help.

Their interactions brings up painful early memories for Ellis, as we learn more about his past as it is revealed that he was abandoned as an infant. Ellis must also come to terms with a fast-changing world as everything is becoming more technologically advanced and digitalised. A touching portrait about assimilating back into society after years of isolation.

An artist of uncompromising frankness

Adam Rapp has cultivated a reputation as one of the most insightful and visceral performing artists of his generation. Writer, poet, performer - everything that he produces eventually strips back to reveal heart behind it. His last play Red Light Winter garnered him a place in the Pulitzer Prize finals, as well as an Obie Award.