Join us for 6 world premiere, short plays in this groundbreaking initiative that encourages conversation about American democracy.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2 @ 7:00 PM Central
RSVP to the Zoom event HERE. This reading is free to the public.
ABOUT WOMEN+ ON THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY – initiated by The Flynn Center in Vermont (Jay Wahl, Executive Director) and The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (Leslie Swackhamer, Executive Director), The Flynn Center commissioned 36 prominent women+ playwrights from around the world to write ten-minute plays or monologues in response to these urgent questions: What is the current state of democracy in America? What can history, global context, or futurism offer us in this pivotal moment?
Learn more about our 6 selected plays as part of this national festival:
COMMON GROUND
by Lauren M. Gunderson
directed by ensemble member Elyse Dolan
featuring ensemble members Casey Campbell & JG Smith
“You’re the reason this country is rotting from the inside.”
Vicious online trolls collide and unite in this absurdist reckoning of self, society, and theatre’s place as our common empathetic ground.
REASONABLE SUSPICION
REASONABLE SUSPICION
by Lisa Loomer
co-directed & featuring artistic affiliate Ana Velazquez & guest artist Alejandro Tey
“It’s taking a little while to authenticate your documents and confirm status…”
A Latine writer is detained at the airport as she attempts to return to the US from Mexico. Could the country have changed that much in the week she was away?
MAYA
MAYA
by Dael Orlandersmith
directed by ensemble member Heather Meyers
featuring ensemble member Wandachristine
“YOUR REALITY IS NOT MY REALITY AND LET’S KEEP IT AT THAT.”
Maya, a custodial worker at a New York library fights against book bans.
AN UPLIFTING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION SPEECH
AN UPLIFTING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION SPEECH
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by ensemble member Elyse Dolan
featuring ensemble member Camille Robinson
“I somehow never thought I’d be invited back here, since I didn’t technically graduate from Saint Margaret’s, but I’m glad you still consider me an alum.”
A woman is invited to speak at her Catholic high school in Texas not long after Roe vs. Wade is overturned.
ATTESTATION
ATTESTATION
by Lynn Nottage
directed by ensemble member Wandachristine
featuring ensemble members Joslyn Jones & Steve Key
“Are we to believe that you, a dark child of the sun, have the capacity to render these beautiful words?”
Across a 2026 debate stage, a 1772 attestation hearing, a university hearing, and a conversation between a critic and playwright, Black women are repeatedly asked to prove the legitimacy of their voices and work. In this two-actor piece, the same exhausted response echoes across centuries as authority shifts hands but the interrogation remains. [Includes actual printed excerpts.]
SEARCHING FOR ELSIE PARRISH
SEARCHING FOR ELSIE PARRISH
by Heidi Schreck
directed by ensemble member Wendy Whiteside
featuring ensemble member Audrey Billings
“It’s a small, um, conservative town, and growing up I was taught to revere the United States Constitution.”
It’s a story about, to quote Rebecca Solnit (and it’s important to cite the source) “never fucking surrendering.”