Ripe Frenzy

by Jennifer Barclay

Ripe Frenzy, winner of the 2016-17 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, is having a 2018 National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at New Rep in Boston, Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta and Greenway Court in LA.

Ripe Frenzy is set in a small town in upstate New York, where the high school is famous for having done the most productions of Our Town of any school, ever. On opening night of the school’s...

Ripe Frenzy, winner of the 2016-17 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, is having a 2018 National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at New Rep in Boston, Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta and Greenway Court in LA.

Ripe Frenzy is set in a small town in upstate New York, where the high school is famous for having done the most productions of Our Town of any school, ever. On opening night of the school’s 40th production, a student open fires with an AR-15. Time is slippery as the play submerges us in the before, during and after of the shooting, using Our Town as a framework to examine what has become our new American norm. Told from the perspective of the mothers of the town, the play questions our own culpability in the perpetuation of mass shootings in our country.

From the beginning, Barclay has been collaborating with projections designer Jared Mezzocchi to embed media design into the text as its own subversive character. The play challenges us to investigate the ability of media to spread our current national contagion.

You can read the Boston Globe preview article for the New Rep premiere here:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2018/02/20/this-fictional-town-consequ…

You can read the American Theatre article featuring Ripe Frenzy here:
https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/04/02/plays-about-guns-with-varyin…

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Ripe Frenzy

Recommended by

  • Glynn Cosker: Ripe Frenzy by Jennifer Barclay
    “

    I saw a production of this play at Andy's Summer Playhouse in NH, and it was fantastic. The writing is crisp, poignant, and REAL. I was very moved by the performances I saw - which speaks volumes for the playwright. Heart-wrenching, salient, forceful, compelling and captivating writing. Well done. Seeing this play inspired me to write my own.

    I saw a production of this play at Andy's Summer Playhouse in NH, and it was fantastic. The writing is crisp, poignant, and REAL. I was very moved by the performances I saw - which speaks volumes for the playwright. Heart-wrenching, salient, forceful, compelling and captivating writing. Well done. Seeing this play inspired me to write my own.

    ”
  • Cheryl Bear: Ripe Frenzy by Jennifer Barclay
    “

    A powerful look at the norm of a school shooting in this country. How do you cope in the aftermath? Riveting and well done.

    A powerful look at the norm of a school shooting in this country. How do you cope in the aftermath? Riveting and well done.

    ”
  • Chandler Hubbard: Ripe Frenzy by Jennifer Barclay
    “

    Distressing and disturbing but ultimately human. Does not try to explain, like so many of our own "manifestos" on why people choose violence; instead, it gives credence to the quiet, mundane nature of seeking answers.

    Distressing and disturbing but ultimately human. Does not try to explain, like so many of our own "manifestos" on why people choose violence; instead, it gives credence to the quiet, mundane nature of seeking answers.

    ”
View all 14 recommendations

Character Information

NOTES:
Please cast with diversity in mind. Zoe's son is a white American male, and so Zoe also needs to be white. BJM also needs to be white for the same reasons. So, I encourage you to find diversity with the casting of the other characters.

Bethany/Hadley are intended to be double cast, and so are Matt/BJM. However, a production could separate the roles. This would allow for greater diversity in casting.

This play can also be produced with the support of a large ensemble of high-school aged actors to play the Tavistown High students.
  • Zoe
    Town Historian. Grounded, a fast thinker. She is ebullient and magnetic.

    Her son needs to be a white American male, so she needs to be white.
    38-50
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Miriam
    Professor of Literature
    38-50
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Felicia
    Surgeon. A lesbian.
    38-50
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Matt
    Matt is Felicia's son; a popular boy at Tavistown High. Can be doubled with Bryan James McNamara.
    17
    Any
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Hadley
    Miriam's daughter; a sweet girl with a temper. Can be doubled with Bethany.
    17
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Bryan James McNamara
    Alternatively frightening and vulnerable. The average school shooter is a 17-year-old white American male, and so BJM needs to be white. Can be doubled with Matt.
    17
    White
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Bethany
    An outcast. Can be doubled with Hadley.
    14
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Workshop, Ojai Playwrights Conference, 2017
  • Workshop, PlayPenn & NNPN, 2017
  • Commission, NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, 2016
  • Workshop, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co, 2016
  • Residency, MacDowell Fellowship, 2016

Production History

  • Professional, Andy's Summer Playhouse, 2019
  • Professional, Greenway Arts Alliance / Greenway Court Theatre, 2018
  • Professional, Synchronicity Theatre, 2018

Awards

  • Writers Alliance Grant
    Dramatists Guild Fund
    Winner
    2018
  • Smith Prize for Political Theatre
    NNPN
    Winner
    2016