Fair State

by Megan Gogerty

"This is the history of white people in Iowa. Well, it's a history of some white people in Iowa."

When comedian Megan Gogerty loses her charming, unreliable, alcoholic father, she unearths evidence of her family’s ancestral ties to the founding of the state of Iowa: are they hearty immigrants making a new life in a new state, or a collection of self-satisfied boot-strappers complicit in the destruction and...

"This is the history of white people in Iowa. Well, it's a history of some white people in Iowa."

When comedian Megan Gogerty loses her charming, unreliable, alcoholic father, she unearths evidence of her family’s ancestral ties to the founding of the state of Iowa: are they hearty immigrants making a new life in a new state, or a collection of self-satisfied boot-strappers complicit in the destruction and erasure of Iowa’s indigenous tribes? (Why choose?) As she examines Iowa’s complicated past, she lays bare her own immediate history and the secrets of abuse and neglect that haunt her and her sisters. Using direct address, Megan asks the audience to wrestle with the question, what do we do with our problematic relatives?

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Fair State

Recommended by

  • Eric Teeter: Fair State by Megan Gogerty
    “

    My God, this woman can write! Megan Gogerty takes a deeply personal moment - the death of a parent - and invites us to join her on the rollercoaster of emotions as she processes exactly how she feels about it. With tangents into memories, good and bad, that add depth and texture to the experience that she’s sharing with us, she weaves a story that leaves us hanging on every word, because it’s relatable. Megan is us. She just found a way to put it into words.

    My God, this woman can write! Megan Gogerty takes a deeply personal moment - the death of a parent - and invites us to join her on the rollercoaster of emotions as she processes exactly how she feels about it. With tangents into memories, good and bad, that add depth and texture to the experience that she’s sharing with us, she weaves a story that leaves us hanging on every word, because it’s relatable. Megan is us. She just found a way to put it into words.

    ”
Woman, white. Ostensibly the author.

Development History

Production History

  • Professional, Provincetown Theater, 2026
  • University, University of Wyoming - Laramie , 2026