How Cissy Grew

James Denton (Desperate Housewives) stars in the world premiere of How Cissy Grew, written by Susan Johnston and directed by Casey Stangl.

In West Virginia, a baby girl named Cissy is abducted, and then swiftly returned to her parents. While she has no memory of those few terrible days, their ramifications haunt her family for the next twenty years. While her
parents take sides in a battle that can’t be won, Cissy becomes a sexually promiscuous, fearless and
sometimes callous young woman with a penchant for her mom’s stash and innocent boys. By turns tough and fragile, smart and foolhardy, savvy and naïve, Cissy is a complicated soul … but is she a creation of a long-ago tragedy, or of her parents’ inability to cope?

How Cissy Grew is a non-linear drama exploring defining moments in one family’s life as they struggle to stay together in the face of guilt, blame and addiction. With moments from a life presented without respect to a
traditional timeline, How Cissy Grew engages audiences in a mystery, encouraging an objective viewing of the various characters, and ultimately brings new clarity to how people are controlled by their past.