Better

by Vince Gatton

***Winner, Ashland New Plays Festival 2025***

[FULL-LENGTH] In a high-security meat-processing plant in the Ozarks, middle-aged line workers Ruth and Donna have long ago settled into a routine based on decades of shared resentments. But when a new figure shows up in town, cracks start to break wide open - between Ruth and Donna, and in the world high above their workstation. And what’s up with all these...

***Winner, Ashland New Plays Festival 2025***

[FULL-LENGTH] In a high-security meat-processing plant in the Ozarks, middle-aged line workers Ruth and Donna have long ago settled into a routine based on decades of shared resentments. But when a new figure shows up in town, cracks start to break wide open - between Ruth and Donna, and in the world high above their workstation. And what’s up with all these Security alerts lately? BETTER is a darkly comic drama about the personal and systemic forces that conspire to resist change — often and especially change for the better.

Based on the OOB Festival-winning short play BETTER, published by Samuel French, a Concord Theatricals Company

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Better

Recommended by

  • Asher Wyndham: Better by Vince Gatton
    “

    There's a muscularity and sinewiness to Gatton's writing. So much for each character to chew on in the scenes. A bleak but honest vision of capitalist America.

    There's a muscularity and sinewiness to Gatton's writing. So much for each character to chew on in the scenes. A bleak but honest vision of capitalist America.

    ”
  • Brian James Polak: Better by Vince Gatton
    “

    Such an incredible play. The characters explode of the page and the dialogue is like a locomotive at full speed. This play is full of surprises and I loved reading it.

    Such an incredible play. The characters explode of the page and the dialogue is like a locomotive at full speed. This play is full of surprises and I loved reading it.

    ”
  • Scott Sickles: Better by Vince Gatton
    “

    I do love me a hellscape! Especially one immersed in heightened mundanity. And Gatton delivers! BETTER is a luridly fierce extrapolation and magnification of the tyranny of low-level success in middling power structures inherent in working class industry! The characters are relatable in ways that evoke both empathy and shame. He expertly shifts timelines and perspectives while giving us a central mystery with a masterful twist. A funhouse mirror reflection of our times. Beautiful and grotesque.

    I do love me a hellscape! Especially one immersed in heightened mundanity. And Gatton delivers! BETTER is a luridly fierce extrapolation and magnification of the tyranny of low-level success in middling power structures inherent in working class industry! The characters are relatable in ways that evoke both empathy and shame. He expertly shifts timelines and perspectives while giving us a central mystery with a masterful twist. A funhouse mirror reflection of our times. Beautiful and grotesque.

    ”
View all 20 recommendations

Character Information

  • RUTH
    Middle aged white woman who works on the production line and has for a long, long time. She’s got a brain in her head, though, and won’t hesitate to make sure you know it.
    Middle-aged
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • DONNA
    Middle aged white woman who works on the production line and has for a long, long time. Had kids when she was very young and has scrambled all her life to provide.
    Middle-aged
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • WAYNE
    30-something white man, maybe a little older, in a managerial role. Whether because he’s balding or because he keeps it buzzed short (or both), he has very little hair. He wears short sleeve dress shirts and is no alpha male. Even beta male would be aspirational.

    This actor also plays a brief role as a new hire in the final scene.
    30s - 40s
    White
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • STACIA
    White woman in her 20s. She has just moved here and knows no one. She is pretty and has excellent hair, in abundance. She is trying her best.
    20s
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman

Awards