HAIL MARY
Show Info
Title | Hail Mary | ||
Playwright | Zoe Senese-Grossberg | ||
Director | Meredith Healy | ||
Category | Reading | ||
First Rehearsal | TBD, Rehearsals can be scheduled after April 6th. (Readings may rehearse 20 hours total) | ||
Performances | Friday, May 8th at 1:30p | ||
Roles to be cast | Age (Presentation) | Gender (Presentation) | Description |
Mary | Early-Mid 20s | F | Trans woman, an aspiring actor, very lost, very lonely, very much looking for love and purpose. Striking, but probably not dressing for it this weekend |
Olivia | Early-Mid 20s | F | Cis woman, wants to be a wife and a mother, recent Catholic convert, marginally delusional. Mary’s childhood best friend. Doing a very classic Tik Tok tradwife thing |
Dean | Mid 30s | M | Cis man, a playwright on the rise, a Catholic convert, cool, gorgeous, seemingly self-assured with a fanatical streak, Olivia’s boyfriend, hip and intellectual- think Dimes Square |
Synopsis | Mary, a young trans woman, is staying with her childhood best friend, Olivia, and Olivia’s boyfriend Dean for the weekend. Dean and Olivia -both recent Catholic converts- consistently antagonize her. However, as Mary is demonstrating odd symptoms -fatigue, nausea in the mornings, vivid dreams- something strange, supernatural, or even divine seems to be at play… | ||
Notices | In addition to what is noted in the fight/intimacy breakdown (sexual content between Dean and Mary, less explicit sexual content between Dean and Olivia, and violence between all three), it is referenced that Mary has cut the baby out of herself with a kitchen knife (though explicitly clarified she is not dying or in pain). Dean and Olivia both engage in transphobic and homophobic rhetoric towards Mary- including misgendering. Olivia uses a homophobic slur one time to Dean. Sexual violence is discussed but never depicted. | ||
Important Dates/Holidays | 4/1-4/9 Passover*, 4/2 Theravada (New Year), 4/3 Good Friday, 4/5 Qing Ming Jie, 4/5 Easter, 4/10 Good Friday (Orthodox), 4/12 Easter (Orthodox), 5/1 Beltane-Samhain, 5/1 Vesak - Buddha Day, 5/5 Cinco De Mayo * Holidays marked with an asterisk (*) begin at sundown on the previous day. | ||
Fight Breakdown (Actions may be described but will not be staged for the reading.)
Page | Stage Directions | Character(s) | Notes |
64-66 | Mary attempts to leave- she is physically restrained by Dean and later Olivia. She fights back –violently- but is eventually tied to a chair by them both. | Mary, Dean, and Olivia. | As this is a reading this will be read not staged. |
86 | Mary attempts to leave again- Dean stops her and she then faints. | Mary and Dean. | See Above. |
100 | Dean grabs Olivia and slaps her hard across the face. He keeps hold of her- spitting the words in her face. | Dean and Olivia. | See Above. |
115-119 | Mary enters with a bloody knife having cut the baby out of her body. Dean threatens to kill her but she threatens him and Olivia with the knife in return. No contact is ever made between any of the people. It is clarified that though Mary is bleeding she is not in any pain nor is her life in any danger. | Mary, Dean, and Olivia. | See Above. |
Intimacy Breakdown (Actions may be described but will not be staged for the reading.)
Page | Stage Directions | Character(s) | Notes |
15 | Dean kisses Olivia. They kiss for a while. | Dean and Olivia. | As this is a reading this will not be fully staged. |
67 | Dean touches Mary’s stomach while she is restrained as she begs him not to touch her. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
79-80 | Dean touches Mary slowly while describing her features until she separates. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
86-87 | Dean and Mary embrace after she faints and he almost kisses her forehead. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
89 | Mary lets Dean touch her stomach. He kneels before her, pulls up her shirt, and kisses her stomach. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
90-91 | Dean kisses Mary. She kisses back. They continue kissing. He pulls her up on a counter and they continue kissing and touching. Eventually, he asks to “be inside her” and begins to initiate penetration -with Mary consenting but going “boneless” in his arms as it happens. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
92 | Olivia kisses Dean. He lets her but does not reciprocate. | Olivia and Dean. | See above. |
101-103 | Dean holds Mary and eventually they kiss. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
109 | Mary and Dean kiss. She touches his face and then pulls herself away. | Dean and Mary. | See above. |
Cast List
Will be announced March 29th.
Contact
Questions or concerns?
Contact Zoe Senese-Grossberg, Playwright: zoe-senese-grossberg@uiowa.edu
or Meredith Healy, Director: meredith-healy@uiowa.edu