This time
full-length play
some tags:
experimental
verse
murder mystery
polycule
characters:
Hester - been here a lifetime
Jane - been here since her adolesence
Peregrine - been here since Autumn
On casting: The femmes can be femmes of any gender. Otherwise, there are no specific race, ability, or other social/physical characteristics, but the play should ultimately be cast with a people who relate to their labor being exploited but necessary; a hold on their life, but also their survival.
(A circle of femmes: Hester
Jane
Peregrine.
If you call a group of crows a murder,
call them a
reckoning.
The light swings in and out.)
JANE: I want to k[---] you.
HESTER: Do it.
JANE: Oh, I want to k[---] you.
HESTER: Do it.
PEREGRINE: It’s her flesh. It’s her flesh. It can be over quickly.
JANE: I know.
HESTER: No more talking.
💄🍊🩸
description
"We must practice resurrection, and this is an everyday practice." - Thich Nhat Hanh
Jane holds a knife. It's bloody. Hester lies on a table. She's bloodied. Peregrine blows out a candle. Go back in time. Jane, Hester, and Peregrine work as maids in a 1900s manor, unable to say what they want to say, stealing moments away from work to hold time with each other. Their love bubbles under their words. We hear their thoughts they aren't yet brave enough to tell each other. They can't stop thinking of death. We hurtle towards it.
awards
Semi-Finalist, Many Voices Fellowship, Playwrights' Center 2022
Finalist, Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference 2022
Hugo House Fellowship 2020-21
production history
November 11th, 2021: Reading with Sound Theatre, Making Waves Festival. Director: Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth, Hester: Sydney Maltese, Jane: Anjelica McMillan, Peregrine: Lola Rei Fukushima, Stage Directions & Inner Voices: Anis, Stage Manager: Grecia Leal Pardo.
acknowledgements + sources of inspiration
in the interest of acknowledging that this play-thing would not be here without these works, individuals, and support:
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Be Holding by Ross Gay
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Hausu dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi
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Sewanee playwrights 2021 🥺
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Swim the River with Karen Hartman 🌟
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Hugo House friends 💖