At Sea
A 10-Minute Play
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PictureJewelle Gomez and Karen Hirtz reading At Sea at Lezwrites in San Francisco
  • 2024, Second Annual Summer Short Play Festival which will include a two-week run of “Pride on Stage."  River & Main Theatre Company  in collaboration with Bay of Quinte Pride.
  • 2022, (reading) BIRD International Theatre Festival, Tottori, Japan (reading produced by Queen's Theatre, NY)
  • 2021, Play Club West, SWAN Day Festival, Hollywood, CA
  • 2020, Friends of Ellen at University of Maryland (Zoom reading).
  • 2020, Violet Surprise: Lez Beaux!, Chicago.
  • 2019, (reading) Shakespeare & Company Fringe Festival, Lenox, MA.
  • 2019, Queen Bee Productions, Akron, OH.
  • 2018, ANDTheatre Company's Eclectic Evening of Shorts: Boxers & Briefs.
  • 2017 Fresh Fruit Festival, Wild Project, NYC.
  • 2017, Winner of Best Play Award,  Act Out/Fresh Fruit 10-Minute Play Competition at Nuyorican Cafe, NYC.
  • 2017, Semi-finalist, Maine Playwrights Festival. (Reading)
  • 2016, LezWrites Festival, 3Girls Theatre, San Francisco.
  • 2016, staged reading, Highlands Inn, Bethlehem, NH.

"... people loved it! Very funny and touching. I loved the... sense of friendship which we don't get to see that often." --Jewelle Gomez,  author of The Gilda Stories.

"LOVED IT!! Why? It had action; a strong relationship; and a large dose of humor ! You raised serious issues - aging in the Dawn of Aquarius . But you refused to fall into somber sentimentality. What you did is something I'm trying to learn - Not to be so damn serious all the time." -- audience feedback from Boxers and Briefs production.

Two old lesbian butches in their 80’s have escaped from a nursing home at night, stolen a sailboat, and are planning a double suicide out on the ocean.
 
As the play opens they are both smoking pot and are very high. They keep bursting into hysterical laughter as they prank each other other, attempt to discuss the serious issues around their mission, and wrestle over a tin of caviar.
 
Best friends for many decades, Lee worries that Micky might be on the trip just to keep her company, not because she is really done with her life. As this conversation breaks down, a Coast Guard searchlight sweeps over the boat.
 
Hiding from the light, Micky comes to a realization about her motives, and this causes a change in strategy for Lee. The play ends on a note of wild exuberance as the two women “come about.”
 
2 old women
Single set
9 minutes