A Knife in the Heart

By Susan Yankowitz, directed by Kirsten Brandt

West Coast Premiere at Sledgehammer Theatre.

It's one of those unquestioned stereotypes: Whenever there is a mass murder or high-profile killing of any sort, we reflexively blame the parents. Particularly the mother.

It is this tendency to blame the mothers of killers that playwright Susan Yankowitz tackles in "A Knife in the Heart," in its West Coast premiere at San Diego's Sledgehammer Theatre.

Yankowitz has done a nice job of balancing the competing sets of pain when violence is committed. She avoids any temptation to downplay or dismiss the suffering of the victims — and yet, also manages to point out the very real grief and guilt the parents of murderers go through.

What also makes "Knife" so effective at facing up to the question of parental responsibility in raising kids who end up committing horrific acts is that Yankowitz offers up no pat answers. She contents herself with asking some wrenching questions.

KPBS Patte Award for “Outstanding Direction” & San Diego Playbill Award 

for “Outstanding Direction”

.. beautiful does describe Sledge artistic director Kirsten Brandt’s startling andrestrained production of “A Knife in the Heart.” … this complex yet fluent staging is a breakthrough for Brandt. -CRITIC’S CHOICE San Diego Union-Tribune

This Sledgehammer Theatre production is a magnificent marriage of substance, style and form, melding Yankowitz’s scorching scenes and dialogue, Kirsten Brandt’s stark, sizzling direction… Every piece of theater should be like this ‘Knife in the Heart’ — a brilliant collaborative effort that forces us to examine who and what we are. – KPBS