The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood

by Kira Rockwell

After the sudden death of their housemate, four teenage girls living in a group home try to combat their grief and their guilt. A poetic drama about the chrysalis of female adolescence that demands our attention be on the youth of America who are raising themselves in the shadows of a broken system.

After the sudden death of their housemate, four teenage girls living in a group home try to combat their grief and their guilt. A poetic drama about the chrysalis of female adolescence that demands our attention be on the youth of America who are raising themselves in the shadows of a broken system.

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The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood

Recommended by

  • Aly Kantor: The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood

    This is a piece that takes teenagers seriously, deftly showing all of the ways they're almost adults... and the many ways they aren't. If you've spent any time with this population, you will fall in love with the raw, silly, truthful characters in this play. These girls truly pop off the page. There is a ton of gorgeous poetry hidden in the dialogue, which somehow felt uncannily like the ways teenagers talk at sleepovers - with a weary, goofy honesty, making their strongest connections in the dark. The ending is beautiful, moving, and cathartic. A really beautiful play!

    This is a piece that takes teenagers seriously, deftly showing all of the ways they're almost adults... and the many ways they aren't. If you've spent any time with this population, you will fall in love with the raw, silly, truthful characters in this play. These girls truly pop off the page. There is a ton of gorgeous poetry hidden in the dialogue, which somehow felt uncannily like the ways teenagers talk at sleepovers - with a weary, goofy honesty, making their strongest connections in the dark. The ending is beautiful, moving, and cathartic. A really beautiful play!

  • Collin Smith: The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood

    This is a play that helped get me into writing when I saw it at Boston Playwright's Theatre. I remember sitting with a class of college freshmen and my professor, and in a moment we began crying, profoundly moved.

    Reading it again years later, and I only enjoyed it more, once again nearly crying. This time at my front desk. The richness of the characters, the fluidity of the dialogue, and the rawness of emotion hit me all over again. Absolutely beautiful and gutwrenching.

    This is a play that helped get me into writing when I saw it at Boston Playwright's Theatre. I remember sitting with a class of college freshmen and my professor, and in a moment we began crying, profoundly moved.

    Reading it again years later, and I only enjoyed it more, once again nearly crying. This time at my front desk. The richness of the characters, the fluidity of the dialogue, and the rawness of emotion hit me all over again. Absolutely beautiful and gutwrenching.

  • Shelby Seeley: The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood

    I wanted to stay with these girls forever. I love them all. Izzy’s final monologue was heart wrenching and beautiful. What it means to be a young girl, becoming a woman, heartbreakingly captured.

    I wanted to stay with these girls forever. I love them all. Izzy’s final monologue was heart wrenching and beautiful. What it means to be a young girl, becoming a woman, heartbreakingly captured.

View all 8 recommendations

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Bechdel Test Fest, The Bridge Initiative , Year 2019
  • Type Reading, Organization ATHE Conference , Year 2019
  • Type Workshop, Organization Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Year 2018
  • Type Workshop, Organization Third Culture Theatre in collaboration with HBO and Incarcerated Youth Network, Year 2018

Awards