Another Reason Not to Go

by Jessica Marie Fisher

While Gabby was in college in New York, she noticed her step family in Colorado Springs becoming increasingly religious. She felt less welcome each time she went home for holidays. One summer she saw physical abuse and made the impulse decision to move her mother out. With this choice, she saved her mom, but she also destroyed her family unit. Her step brothers stopped talking to her and her step father soon...

While Gabby was in college in New York, she noticed her step family in Colorado Springs becoming increasingly religious. She felt less welcome each time she went home for holidays. One summer she saw physical abuse and made the impulse decision to move her mother out. With this choice, she saved her mom, but she also destroyed her family unit. Her step brothers stopped talking to her and her step father soon died.

Four years later, Gabby is living with her fiance Autumn when she receives a wedding invitation from one of her ex-step-brothers. She's surprised to find that she actually wants to attend. At the wedding in the megachurch capital of the US, Gabby and Autumn confront her trauma, both of their feelings of loss, and the shortcomings of their life without community.

What is lost when you say goodbye to family? What is gained when you can hold again that which you let go? Why do we stay, and how does it feel to know we can never return? Why do we yearn to know for certain the things that we never possibly can?

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Another Reason Not to Go

Character Information

Two women 25-30, two men 18-22, one man 24-28, one woman 18-22, one man 35-45.
  • Gabby
    Copes with her copious amounts of trauma through compartmentalization. Funny, to the point; it makes sense that she’s an army brat. Was not raised particularly religiously but became interested when megachurches started cropping up around her town in Colorado Springs. Became a part of the “cool church” in high school but is now atheist and critical of organized religion. Engaged to Autumn.
    25-30
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • Lake
    Gabby’s ex-stepbrother. As Jesus-like as they come. Kind, welcoming, thoughtful, and loving. Lake is the model of what Christians say they want to be. Could almost be considered a hippie. Would be mistaken for a sweet outdoorsy skater guy if it wasn’t for the “Porn is Bad” Sticker on his hydro flask. Getting married to Sierra.
    18-22
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Autumn
    Dry sense of humor, yet at her core a free spirit with an open mind. Raised by liberal mountain artist agnostics in Burlington. Has been out since she was thirteen. Loves how stalwart Gabby is. One of her moms recently died and it breaks her heart that she will never see her start a family.
    25-30
    Female or non-binary
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman,
      Non-binary
  • Hunter
    Gabby’s ex-stepbrother. The most charismatic person you’ll ever meet. Can talk his way into or out of anything. It’s possibly a gift that he’s starkly religious and saving himself for marriage, because he’d ruin a lot of girls' lives. He can somehow go from talking about whiskey to justifying genocide and you won’t realize you’re nodding your head.
    25-30
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Sierra
    Lake’s fiancée. Raised by the book in an evangelical church, loves Taylor Swift. Is grateful for everything that has been given to her. Perky and waif-like. Has cancer and does not believe in pharmaceuticals. She’s dying.
    18-22
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • Mike
    D1 shot put star at CU Boulder, childhood best friend of Lake, a golden retriever boy. Loves his sports, loves his mom, loves Lake. He doesn’t have a negative bone in his body. Since he doesn’t have strong convictions, he is easily convinced of anything at all.
    18-22
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Chris
    Pastor at Mountain View. Handsome, smiley, married with five children. Treats sermons like they’re college lectures, complete with PowerPoints and real bread, not that “gross flat shit” they serve at Catholic churches. You can have a beer with him and then find yourself crying in his arms, repenting.
    35-40
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s,
      50s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man

Development History

  • Reading, Wild Imaginings , 2025
  • Reading, Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Arts and Culture Committee, 2024

Production History

  • Community Theater, Firefly Theatre Company, 2026

Awards

  • Full-Length Playwriting Competition
    Savage Wonder
    Runner Up
    2025
  • Epiphanies New Works Festival
    Wild Imaginings
    Finalist
    2025
  • Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival
    Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre & Dance
    Finalist
    2025