DIANE
Early 30's - although the last few years have made her seem somewhat older
BECKY Late 20's. Diane's younger sister - scrawny
SETTING
A landfill
SYNOPSIS
Two estranged sisters clash when they attempt to recover their mother's dying message - a letter that has been thrown out with the trash and now resides in a municipal dump.
About Trash
A full length drama in two acts for 2F
Alison Dornheggen and Megan Schemmel in the 2012 premiere directed by Delia Ford. Photos by Johnny Knight.
TRASH premiered in 2012 at the Side Project Theatre in Chicago by the amazing Babes With Blades Theatre Company; the UK Version premiered in London at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in 2015, produced by Indigo Iris Productions. The play was revived in Chicago by Forget Me Not Productions, and the most recent production was by Defiance College in Ohio.
The play takes place entirely in a dump - a municipal landfill, where two estranged sisters have come to look for a letter from their mother. They've come from their mother's funeral - the first time they've seen each other in years, and as they
dig through the literal and metaphorical trash heap, they get further and further into their complicated relationship with each other - and with the lives they led under the shadow of a domineering mother who still controls and influences them even after her death.
It's a powerful drama, with a lot of very funny moments.
Babes With Blades Theatre Company. Photo by Johnny Knight.
The UK version
A UK version is available from the playwright, adapted for language, location, and the difference in the municipal refuse system! It premiered in London at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in September of 2015, directed by Andrew Fielding-Day, with Emma Shenkman as Diane and Georgina Phillips as Becky. Read the FOUR STAR review! ★ ★ ★ ★
Sample Dialogue...
REVIEWS:
★ ★ ★ ★ London Theatre One wrote " Trash is such a powerful play that once the setting has been quickly established, I wanted to stay and pay attention to this part-conversation, part-argument, part-fight between Diane (Emma Shenkman) and Becky (Georgina Philipps), sisters for whom sibling rivalry not only runs deep but intensely troubling, and even life-threatening." review by Chris Omaweng
Chicago Stage Review said: " It is a strangely playful and extremely clever metaphor for the chaos of familial dysfuntion that unfolds in Jolly's script... an evening of thoroughly delightful guilty pleasures." review by Venus Zarris
For information on producing this play, contact Next Stage Press. If you'd like to get a feel for the play first - try reading the monologues available here.
