Memorial Day (Full Length)

by Paul Donnelly

Memorial Day is available exclusively from Next Stage Press.

https://www.nextstagepress.com/memorial-day/

1992. The height of the AIDS epidemic. An overwhelmed physician with a secret comes to his beach house in search of a break. Instead, he is confronted by the drag queen ghost of a long dead lover and friends with different expectations for their relationship. How George navigates the ghost and the friends...

Memorial Day is available exclusively from Next Stage Press.

https://www.nextstagepress.com/memorial-day/

1992. The height of the AIDS epidemic. An overwhelmed physician with a secret comes to his beach house in search of a break. Instead, he is confronted by the drag queen ghost of a long dead lover and friends with different expectations for their relationship. How George navigates the ghost and the friends, and ultimately reveals his secret, are explored with depth of feeling and bursts of resilient humor. This play eloquently delves into an important moment in history and in the evolution of the gay community.

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Memorial Day (Full Length)

Recommended by

  • Ian Donley: Memorial Day (Full Length) by Paul Donnelly
    “

    Paul Donnelly’s “Memorial Day” is educational and heart wrenching. Donnelly gives us a vulnerable observation during the height of the AIDS epidemic, and his characters are at their most raw. This, in turn, brings us as the audience together to feel the tragedy through the play, which will stick with you even after the curtain closes.

    Paul Donnelly’s “Memorial Day” is educational and heart wrenching. Donnelly gives us a vulnerable observation during the height of the AIDS epidemic, and his characters are at their most raw. This, in turn, brings us as the audience together to feel the tragedy through the play, which will stick with you even after the curtain closes.

    ”
  • Tom Erb: Memorial Day (Full Length) by Paul Donnelly
    “

    Paul Donnelly's intimate portrait of love and loss during the early days of the AIDS crisis with dialogue fitting for a tough topic and well-crafted characters, He explores the complexities of relationships, grief, and the search for comfort in the face of tragedy. "Memorial Day" is a wonderfully written play. Enjoyed the read.

    Paul Donnelly's intimate portrait of love and loss during the early days of the AIDS crisis with dialogue fitting for a tough topic and well-crafted characters, He explores the complexities of relationships, grief, and the search for comfort in the face of tragedy. "Memorial Day" is a wonderfully written play. Enjoyed the read.

    ”
  • Peter Fenton: Memorial Day (Full Length) by Paul Donnelly
    “

    I have to imagine if you are a gay man under the age of 40 (which I am), MEMORIAL DAY is a must-read to get a taste of what life was like in the late '80s and early '90s for us. What's especially remarkable about this play as a work of human drama is how Donnelly leverages soft comedic dialogue that ironically underscores how bleak and tragic the scenario really is. George is an incredibly complex, well-drawn character and I especially appreciated his arc through the piece.

    I have to imagine if you are a gay man under the age of 40 (which I am), MEMORIAL DAY is a must-read to get a taste of what life was like in the late '80s and early '90s for us. What's especially remarkable about this play as a work of human drama is how Donnelly leverages soft comedic dialogue that ironically underscores how bleak and tragic the scenario really is. George is an incredibly complex, well-drawn character and I especially appreciated his arc through the piece.

    ”
View all 22 recommendations

Character Information

  • George Harris
    George is an overworked and overwhelmed physician working in an HIV clinic at a time when there wasn't much in the way of treatment to offer. He has just participated in his first assisted suicide and is spectacularly ambivalent. This has made him moody and difficult and he has not told anyone, including his partner, what he has done.
    44
    White
    Male,
    Cis male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Martin Kiernan
    Martin is George's lover, a realtor. He understands the strains of George's line of work but is still working for a better equilibrium for them as couple.
    44
    Male,
    Cis male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Joe Morrisey
    George's oldest friend. Recently started dating Nate, also recently widowed. While Nate is almost desperate to move forward, Joe is still very much in mourning.
    44
    Male,
    Cis male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Nate Goldman
    Nate,recently widowed and on the rebound, is smart and cautious. HIV+ but apparently in good health.
    28
    Male,
    Cis male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Terrence "Evelyn" O'Brien
    Evelyn is visible only to George. She is the ghost of his first lover, who died of pancreatic cancer 20 years before the time of the play. She is the outward manifestation of George's unsettled mental state.
    24
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • George "Scooter" Harris
    A six-term North Carolina state senator, fourteenth generation North Carolinian, and Dr. George Harris’s father. Scooter doesn’t cotton much to women in pants, colored who don’t know their place, or homosexuals.
    68
    White
    Male,
    Cis male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man

Development History

  • Reading, Theatrical Outfit, 2021
  • Reading, Dark Nights at Kumu Kahua Theatre, 2018

Production History

  • University, Department of Theatre and Dance / University of Hawaii at Manoa , 2022

Awards

  • New American Voices Play Reading Series
    The Landing Theatre Company
    Semi-Finalist
    2019
  • Moss & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative
    Finalist
    2018