Thrive, Or What You Will [an epic]

by L M Feldman

Okay so this is a story about a gender-nonconforming 18th-century herb woman who’s trying to carve out a larger sense of space… and ends up on a journey around the world. Her name was Jeanne Baret, and nearly everything we know about her life comes from the journals of the men who knew her. An epic tale of historical fiction about our country's present moment, THRIVE blends the style and language of our past and...

Okay so this is a story about a gender-nonconforming 18th-century herb woman who’s trying to carve out a larger sense of space… and ends up on a journey around the world. Her name was Jeanne Baret, and nearly everything we know about her life comes from the journals of the men who knew her. An epic tale of historical fiction about our country's present moment, THRIVE blends the style and language of our past and present in order to interrogate the nature of "discovery" and its legacy, of (mis)categorizing the world, of species & survival, of power & access, of gender & identity, and of the subjective nature of both history & self. Funny, gripping, poignant, and wild, THRIVE wrestles with the loss of Jeanne's perspective and tries to imagine possibilities of what it may have been. And as Jeanne journeys and changes, so too does her casting – in this ensemble-driven quest of self-determination. Meanwhile, we watch Jeanne and her companion Commerson on their adventure – from meeting to parting – across lands & seas & 6,000 plants – in a voyage that is part love story, part Latin taxonomy, part feminist wrestling with historiography, and part surrender into awe itself and the universal need to flourish.

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Thrive, Or What You Will [an epic]

Recommended by

  • Steven Christopher McKnight: Thrive, Or What You Will [an epic]

    The play is somewhat of a Herculean task, as epics tend to be. It's a play that almost requires you to develop a relationship with it to fully understand and take in. As such a play that plays with time, space, gender, and personification, every audience member gets something different out of it. I saw this play a couple times at Binghamton University, which worked to its benefit. Having a whole department digest this play over the course of a semester made it such a remarkable shared experience. Recommended especially for universities.

    The play is somewhat of a Herculean task, as epics tend to be. It's a play that almost requires you to develop a relationship with it to fully understand and take in. As such a play that plays with time, space, gender, and personification, every audience member gets something different out of it. I saw this play a couple times at Binghamton University, which worked to its benefit. Having a whole department digest this play over the course of a semester made it such a remarkable shared experience. Recommended especially for universities.

  • Pauline David-Sax: Thrive, Or What You Will [an epic]

    As someone who read The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley, I was thrilled to see how L brought this source material to life. I loved the inventive use of the ensemble of Askers and the multiple Jean/nes. L covers a lot of historical ground while also creating a piece that speaks very much to contemporary audiences. It's a gripping exploration of identity and historiography and sexual politics.

    As someone who read The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley, I was thrilled to see how L brought this source material to life. I loved the inventive use of the ensemble of Askers and the multiple Jean/nes. L covers a lot of historical ground while also creating a piece that speaks very much to contemporary audiences. It's a gripping exploration of identity and historiography and sexual politics.

  • Jerry Polner: Thrive, Or What You Will [an epic]

    L M Feldman's Thrive, or What You Will is indeed an epic, a worldly, sweeping story about the 18th century French herb woman Jeanne Baret, who pretends to be a man in order to board an exploratory ship bound for the "Great Southern Continent." This is a brilliantly told, steel-edged tale about what the worst of men can do and what the rest of us fail to do about it.

    L M Feldman's Thrive, or What You Will is indeed an epic, a worldly, sweeping story about the 18th century French herb woman Jeanne Baret, who pretends to be a man in order to board an exploratory ship bound for the "Great Southern Continent." This is a brilliantly told, steel-edged tale about what the worst of men can do and what the rest of us fail to do about it.

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Development History

Production History

  • Type University, Organization University of Washington, Year 2025
  • Type University, Organization George Mason University, Year 2024
  • Type University, Organization Binghamton University, Year 2023
  • Type Professional, Organization American Shakespeare Center, Year 2022

Awards

  • Jane Chambers Award
    Finalist
    2024
  • Best LGBTQ Drama
    Lambda Literary Awards
    Finalist
    2022
  • The Ground Floor
    Berkeley Rep
    Semi-Finalist
  • Bay Area Playwrights Festival
    Semi-Finalist
  • Shakespeare's New Contemporaries
    American Shakespeare Center
    Winner
    2020
  • The Kilroys List
    Honorable Mention
    2019
  • O'Neill National Playwrights Conference
    Finalist
    2018