Comprised of multiple vintage images of the Dust Bowl made available by the National Archives, Washington DC
Holy Days
Play Description
An elegy for the lost souls in the dying plains of Kansas, 1936, who clung to their blighted homesteads like bees to a poisoned hive.
Production Info
Cast: 4 total (2 female, 2 male)Full Length Drama (about 60 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
- Reviews
- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
- Productions
Press Quotes
“If a poem is a form of dense evocational shorthand, Sally Nemeth’s HOLY DAYS is a stage poem. It is uncommonly affecting — an elegy for the lost souls in the dying plains of Kansas, 1936, who clung to their blighted homesteads like bees to the poisoned hive. Not as a matter of choice, but of inevitability. This is The Grapes of Wrath in reverse. There is not much plot. What there is, is simple and stirring … It is not the action that counts, but the chiseled characters. Nemeth is a miniaturist. Is there a play in this? There is. Amazingly. A majestic and gripping one. There is beauty and wisdom in this little piece.” —Sylvie Drake, Los Angeles Times
“Set in Kansas during the Dust Bowl, this play tells the story of two farmer brothers and their wives struggling to make it through the drought and winds that hit the southern Great Plains during the 30’s, blowing away as much withered hope as dried-out topsoil … But the play is less about plot than quiet emotion and reflection … the deep hope Dust Bowlers had to draw upon to carry on.” —Monica Eng, Chicago Tribune
“The power of this play derives partly from its unerring choice and arrangement of events. It begins, in the aftermath of devastation, focusing exclusively on how the characters cope with disaster, and presenting them in an initial state of shock, so that bits of basic exposition gradually come to light during the action, as they regain strength to face the facts. The whole gesture of the piece is to show the shattered group pulling themselves together and making survival plans; and, crucially, holding on to the ceremonies of everyday life.” —Irving Wardle, The Times (London)
Author(s)
Sally NemethBorn in Chicago in 1959, Sally Nemeth was an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays have been produced by theaters throughout the English-speaking world. Published plays include HOLY DAYS, MILL FIRE, WATER PLAY, and SALLY'S SHORTS. Since beginning her television career writing for the hit NBC TV show Law & Order, she had written for every major television network and produced the documentary film Long Story Short. Her novel for young adults, The Heights, the Depths and Everything in Between, is published by Knopf/Yearling. She lived in Indiana, Delaware, Alabama, New York City and Los Angeles. She passed away in 2021.
Book Information
| Publisher | BPPI |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 5/31/2012 |
| Pages | 46 |
| ISBN | 9780881455229 |
Special Notes
If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:
Premiered at the SoHo Poly Theatre, London
US premiere at South Coast Rep, Costa Mesa, CA
In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypublishing.com
Upcoming and Recent Productions
Nonprofessional
Related Plays
$12.95–$15.00
Play Description
Strindberg’s chilling anatomy of a marriage — in which the two partners duel with each other until one is utterly defeated. Edgar and Alice, embittered husband and wife, live on an army base on a Swedish island: Alice calls it “Little Hell,” and it’s about to get worse. Written in 1900, THE DANCE OF DEATH is full of destruction and bitterness, laced with grim humor.
Production Info
Cast: 6 total (3 female, 3 male)Full Length Drama (about 140 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Period Costumes
$12.95–$15.00
Play Description
The tale of an impassioned childless woman living with her husband in rural Spain. Tortured by her incessant longing to conceive a child, she is driven by madness to commit a heinous crime.
Production Info
Cast: 8 total (6 female, 2 male, 6 women in a chorus)Full Length Drama (about 100 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
$12.95–$15.00
Play Description
A romantic comedy with a Sci-fi twist. Troubled lovers, Roger and Susan, visit rural Vermont to work on their relationship. Possession by aliens was not on their list of problems … until they got there.
Production Info
Cast: 4 total (2 female, 2 male)Full Length Comedy (about 120 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
$15.00–$15.95
Play Description
A man and a woman meet for the first time on an Internet date. Nearby another man and woman meet to end their marriage. One coffee shop. Two couples. A million chances to settle the score. In the comedy CHANGES IN THE MATING STRATEGIES OF WHITE PEOPLE, playwright Solange Castro explores urban dating, technology, love, and sex in contemporary Los Angeles.
Production Info
Cast: 6 total (3 female, 3 male)Full Length Comedy (about 70 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
$15.00–$15.95
Play Description
THE TALENTED ONES looks at the thwarted dreams of immigrants eager to make it in their adopted country. As converts to the American Dream, how much more challenging and lethal do the notions of success and failure become? Omar is falling down in his attempts to make a success of his life, while his wife, Cindy, a fellow immigrant, appears to be doing much better, and is becoming increasingly frustrated by Omar’s struggles. His American best friend, Patrick, may be Cindy's way out. Mixing realism with memory and dance, THE TALENTED ONES dissects with increasing ferocity this couple's marriage and aspirations.
Production Info
Cast: 5 total (2 female, 3 male, doubling)Full Length Comedy (about 100 minutes)
Single Set
Contemporary Costumes
$15.00–$15.95
Play Description
A mock 1930’s farce in which hilarity reigns supreme.
Production Info
Cast: 9 total (2 female, 7 male)Full Length Comedy (about 120 minutes)
Multiple Sets
Contemporary Costumes
$15.00–$15.95
Play Description
Susan and Martin Merrit are unable to have a child on their own, so they hire Becca Connor to serve as a surrogate. When Becca is found dead, a police investigation explodes the lives of everyone who knew her. As Detectives Valez and Dixon begin to put the pieces together, secrets surface, alibis weaken, and lies are uncovered. This dramatic play explores motherhood, passion, and the thin line between right and wrong.
Production Info
Cast: 7 total (5 female, 2 male)Full Length Drama (about 90 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
$12.95–$15.00
Play Description
In Hollywood in 1939, an actor/director named Julian Hyde is blackmailed by a gossip columnist known as Hollywood Confidential who threatens to reveal Hyde’s homosexuality. Hyde is coerced into revealing secrets of other Hollywood stars. Hyde plots revenge by making a film about Hollywood Confidential’s life, revealing all of his secrets.
Production Info
Cast: 13 total (3 female, 10 male, extras)Full Length Drama (about 130 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Period Costumes
$12.95–$15.00
Play Description
High atop a railroad trestle that spans a bone dry creek, two teenagers plan to race across the bridge against an oncoming locomotive. At first their scheme adds excitement to life in a small factory town during the Great Depression, then sensual experience awakens dangerous passions in an era of stifled ambitions. With theatrical flourish and lyrical finesse, Naomi Wallace delves into a world where people struggle to change lives that bear down upon them.
Production Info
Cast: 5 total (2 female, 3 male)Full Length Drama (about 110 minutes)
Single Set
Period Costumes
$15.00–$15.95
Play Description
A beautiful young girl who rises her parent’s ballroom dancing act to film stardom. Inspired by the life of Rita Hayworth.
Production Info
Cast: 6 total (2 female, 4 male)Full Length Drama (about 85 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
$15.00–$15.95
Play Description
Strindberg’s classic on the dissolution of a marriage is given an enthralling new translation by master translator Laurence Senelick.
Production Info
Cast: 8 total (4 female, 4 male)Full Length Drama (about 170 minutes)
Multiple Sets
Period Costumes