Milk and Gall

by Mathilde Dratwa

It’s Election Night 2016, Vera becomes a new mother, and...it’s about to be one f*cked up year.

It’s Election Night 2016, Vera becomes a new mother, and...it’s about to be one f*cked up year.

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Milk and Gall

Recommended by

  • James Binz: Milk and Gall by Mathilde Dratwa
    “

    Mathilde captures the paranoia of the moment for many people in the USA. Not just a political diatribe, she has fashioned a wonderful story with layers of complexities and nuance. The characters are natural and surreal , the dialogue is (as usual for Dratwa) spot on. And the story is important and entertaining and thought provoking all at the same time. This is a very realistic slice of life for the aftermath of the 2016 election. Brava!

    Mathilde captures the paranoia of the moment for many people in the USA. Not just a political diatribe, she has fashioned a wonderful story with layers of complexities and nuance. The characters are natural and surreal , the dialogue is (as usual for Dratwa) spot on. And the story is important and entertaining and thought provoking all at the same time. This is a very realistic slice of life for the aftermath of the 2016 election. Brava!

    ”
  • Paul K Smith: Milk and Gall by Mathilde Dratwa
    “

    ***** Nonpareil! *****

    ***** Nonpareil! *****

    ”
  • Emma Goldman-Sherman: Milk and Gall by Mathilde Dratwa
    “

    A wonderfully funny play about becoming a mother on the eve of the election and having to live in dystopian Trump-world while nursing an infant. Hard as it is to become a mother, it must have been hellish to do so in the late fall of 2016. This play reveals so many truths about birth and mothering in such an honest yet comic way.

    A wonderfully funny play about becoming a mother on the eve of the election and having to live in dystopian Trump-world while nursing an infant. Hard as it is to become a mother, it must have been hellish to do so in the late fall of 2016. This play reveals so many truths about birth and mothering in such an honest yet comic way.

    ”
View all 8 recommendations

Character Information

  • Vera
    a liberal Jewish woman who is in labor at the start of the play, gives birth, and therefore subsequently has the body of somebody who has just given birth - including a c-section scar on her abdomen. She is almost always with her shape-shifting baby.
    35
    White,
    Jewish
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Michael
    Vera's husband. Midwestern. Deeply loves his wife. Almost always holds a cup of coffee.
    Also plays: MUELLER (a stereotypical TV detective from a daytime procedural).
    30s
    White
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Barbara
    Vera's mother. A lesbian. High-energy, a doer.
    Also plays: HILLARY CLINTON, ELAINE (Michael's mom, watches Fox News, from Wisconsin, speaks with an accent), DOCTOR
    60s
    White,
    Jewish
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Amira
    Vera's best friend. A first-generation Syrian-American. Her friends call her Ami for short, pronounced ah-MEE.
    30s
    Middle Eastern
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Alexa
    Initially a hands-free, voice-controlled device, later a flesh-and-blood mom. Judgemental. Black.
    Also plays: ANESTHESIOLOGIST, NURSE, NANNY (speaks with a Caribbean accent), LACTATION CONSULTANT, MOM 1, MOM 2, MOM 3.
    30s
    Black
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Reading, LAByrinth Theater Company, 2019
  • Reading, Great Plains Theater Conference, 2018

Production History

  • Professional, Theatre503, 2021

Awards

  • Jane Chambers Award
    ATHE
    Finalist
    2018
  • International Playwriting Award
    theater503
    Finalist
    2018