The Twelfth Story

by Rebecca Goldberg

In a distant future civilization, Athena, a disgraced academic, discovers a series of recordings from a past civilization that believes the only way to make plants grow is to tell them stories. A group of Botanists, carefully trained from childhood in the art of storytelling, discover they are forgetting the stories that are keeping them and their world alive. As Athena listens to their stories, she starts to...

In a distant future civilization, Athena, a disgraced academic, discovers a series of recordings from a past civilization that believes the only way to make plants grow is to tell them stories. A group of Botanists, carefully trained from childhood in the art of storytelling, discover they are forgetting the stories that are keeping them and their world alive. As Athena listens to their stories, she starts to feel a bond with them, especially with one botanist in particular, Teller Ren. Could Ren's downfall become Athena's salvation?

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The Twelfth Story

Recommended by

  • Carolynne Wilcox: The Twelfth Story by Rebecca Goldberg
    “

    I had the privilege of playing Athena in a developmental reading in 2014, and absolutely fell in love with the character and the world of the piece, which contains several stories to tell a larger story about how storytelling saved the world. It is interesting, compassionate, inventive and thoroughly engaging, would be an amazing addition to any season, and would be wonderfully suited to adapting as an online piece (this review is being written in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic). Highly recommend!

    I had the privilege of playing Athena in a developmental reading in 2014, and absolutely fell in love with the character and the world of the piece, which contains several stories to tell a larger story about how storytelling saved the world. It is interesting, compassionate, inventive and thoroughly engaging, would be an amazing addition to any season, and would be wonderfully suited to adapting as an online piece (this review is being written in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic). Highly recommend!

    ”
Teller Ren (a botanist)
Athena Lopez (a junior academic)
Teller Fern (a botanist) and Dr. Kali Vlassopoulos (Athena’s mentor)
Teller Lily (a botanist) and Master Root (one of Ren’s teachers)
Teller Bug (a botanist)
Teller Ivy (a botanist) and Dr. Michelangelo Evans (a professor of Anthropology)

Any part can be played by an actor of any age, ethnicity, or physical type. Ren, Athena, Dr. Vlassopoulos, and Lily must be played by female-identifying or non-binary actors. Bug and Dr. Evans may be played by actors of any gender, regardless of pronouns used for the characters. Diversity in casting is encouraged.

Production History

  • Fringe, Annex Theatre, 2016