This play is a combination of two ideas I had sitting in my notes app for about a year:
1) a play exploring the culture of Christian couples marrying SUPER young so they can have sex and hopefully lasting love and
2) a play about a lavender marriage.
Turns out those two ideas needed to be enmeshed.
I started the first draft of this play in the wee hours of a summer Sunday morning on the eve of a rehearsal dinner for a young friend of mine. 6 days and 120 pages later, I had a full draft. I’ve never written anything so fast before— this play poured out of me in a way I can only hope to experience again.
It’s a play exploring questions that every young person is grappling with today— even, and I might say especially, young Christian people. Both farcical and moving in turn, it tackles commitment, sexuality, mental health, suicide, conversion therapy, reproductive rights, and religion. It’s a piece written for and about 20-nothings— young people pledging their lives to each other without knowing who they are alone yet.
Read the play for free on New Play Exchange!
Pictured are Bellamy Brockman as Iliana, Chase Ohren as Devin, Samantha King as Hannah, Phillip Nielsen as Solomon, and Michael Stark as Abel
Photographer: Aiden Clayburn
Watch the Staged Reading
Enjoy this preliminary staging of the show, directed by Nat Harper, intimacy directed by myself, and starring Bellamy Brockman, Chase Ohren, Samantha King, Phillip Nielsen and Michael Stark! This reading was filmed at Webster University’s Sargent Conservatory of Theatre Arts and produced by SLAI, the Student Led Arts Initiative.
…and Read the Play!
Read the revised play for FREE on New Play Exchange, or reach out to me via the contact form, my IG (@jacksonrcastello) or email (jackmcastello@icloud.com) for a complimentary PDF!
FAQs
Who is this for?
With a cast of roles for college-aged actors, this piece is perfect for universities or professional theaters looking for challenging and relevant contemporary plays about young people.
Can I license the show?
Yes! After several rounds of developmental readings and a preliminary staging, I am eager to find theaters and universities to bring this piece to new audiences. If you’re interested in inquiring about rights, contact me via my website, New Play Exchange or my email jackmcastello@icloud.com.
What are the production needs?
Setting: two apartments, suggested unit set
Cast: two women, three men
Running time: 2 hours, with an intermission
Includes scenes of intimacy
Content Advisory
For mature audiences. Includes brief strong language, sexual content, and non-graphic discussions of pregnancy loss, conversion therapy, and self-harming behaviors.
