MAY 39th

by Callie Kimball

A voyeuristic peek at dating 1,000 years from now. Louisa's your average, brainy, slightly mousy single gal in the city. Sure, she's got twelve clones and a decent job at the Center for Proteonomics, but she's also got a genetic trait of not feeling pain that makes her, well...different. Louisa's predictable world is turned upside down when she meets romantic renegade Sam online at the Ninja Diner. Sam offers...

A voyeuristic peek at dating 1,000 years from now. Louisa's your average, brainy, slightly mousy single gal in the city. Sure, she's got twelve clones and a decent job at the Center for Proteonomics, but she's also got a genetic trait of not feeling pain that makes her, well...different. Louisa's predictable world is turned upside down when she meets romantic renegade Sam online at the Ninja Diner. Sam offers Louisa everything she wants, and a few things she hadn't bargained for. (Male and female couple, or two women.)

"Dating in general often ends up to be a maze of social and personal issues all with the goal of hopefully finding someone you can spend your life with. With this play we see that nothing has changed 1000 years from now – society has it’s rules, and we still have our issues. This is science fiction done right – using the genre to explore ourselves and the world around us. What obstacles do we put in our own way? What are put in our way by society? This story explores that in a very thoughtful way." Erik Engman, certified reviewer for Hollywood Fringe.

SETTING
May 39, 3006. A bedroom.

CHARACTERS
Louisa, female.
Sam, male or female.

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MAY 39th

Recommended by

  • Brett Abelman: MAY 39th by Callie Kimball
    “

    Uses science fiction in the best of ways - to tell us about our world, and our selves, right now. The level of detail in imagining this future is astounding, yet it is not obtrusive or forced into what is essentially a finely nuanced character study. Twisty, thoughtful, and a little bit heartbreaking. Finally, the medium length makes it a great choice for festivals, evenings of shorts, or the like.

    Uses science fiction in the best of ways - to tell us about our world, and our selves, right now. The level of detail in imagining this future is astounding, yet it is not obtrusive or forced into what is essentially a finely nuanced character study. Twisty, thoughtful, and a little bit heartbreaking. Finally, the medium length makes it a great choice for festivals, evenings of shorts, or the like.

    ”
  • Jim Knable: MAY 39th by Callie Kimball
    “

    Callie Kimball's plays often take familiar scenes or character types and turn them diagonally so that there is something so perversely wrong with them that they become their truer selves. This feels right in a morning-after scene, set in the future, when money is counted in ringos, and cylinders, not cups, are half full or empty. Everything is just off enough to make it seem more relevant but not off too much so that it is not immediately recognizable. This play and Jenny1538 (in which a Girlscout Man quests for her Discovery badge) would play great together.

    Callie Kimball's plays often take familiar scenes or character types and turn them diagonally so that there is something so perversely wrong with them that they become their truer selves. This feels right in a morning-after scene, set in the future, when money is counted in ringos, and cylinders, not cups, are half full or empty. Everything is just off enough to make it seem more relevant but not off too much so that it is not immediately recognizable. This play and Jenny1538 (in which a Girlscout Man quests for her Discovery badge) would play great together.

    ”

Development History

  • Workshop, Lark Play Development Center, 2015
  • Workshop, Doorway Arts Ensemble, 2008
  • Reading, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2008
  • Reading, Electric Pear Productions, 2008
  • Reading, Dramatists Guild, 2007

Production History

  • University, Bard College at Simon's Rock, 2016
  • Professional, Hollywood Fringe Festival (Absolute Theatre), 2015
  • Professional, Drama League Directorfest, 2014
  • Professional, Alcyone Festival at Halcyon Theater, 2013
  • Professional, Capital Fringe Festival (11:11 Productions), 2009
  • Professional, Capital Fringe Festival (DC Dollies & the Rocket Bitch Revue), 2006