are you listening?

Adapted from the graphic novel by Tillie Walden.

LOU, a 27-year old mechanic, is on a trip to San Angelo, Texas when she spots the 17-year old BEA stranded with a backpack by the side of the road. So Lou decides to offer her a ride. But when Bea gets in the car, Lou realizes that Bea is trying to run away from home, and won’t tell her why.

While Lou drives West to visit family & process the sudden death of her mother, Bea must come to terms with what...

LOU, a 27-year old mechanic, is on a trip to San Angelo, Texas when she spots the 17-year old BEA stranded with a backpack by the side of the road. So Lou decides to offer her a ride. But when Bea gets in the car, Lou realizes that Bea is trying to run away from home, and won’t tell her why.

While Lou drives West to visit family & process the sudden death of her mother, Bea must come to terms with what happened to her back home, and find a way to sleep at night. But as the two of them travel further West, they run into a mysterious cat, a series of ghost towns, and a group of shadowy cowboys that appear in the night like the Marfa Lights. Will Lou overcome the loss of a mother who was hard to love? Will Bea ever go back home? And what exactly are they going to do about the men & ghost towns in Texas that seem to want to swallow them whole? A story about maps, mothers, their dyke daughters, & one particular cat – are you listening? – is a queer Western about grief like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

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are you listening?

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  • Shaun Leisher: are you listening?

    This is for sure a story that could be adapted for the screen but I'm so glad that Mirny could chose the stage. There are evocative stage pictures that I picture on botht the Broadway and black box college theatre level and at its core it's a play about people talking and connecting which is what I look for in theatre. I love that that it's a queer story where being queer is not the main character trait of these individuals and trauma is handled here with such care. I need to read Tillie Walden's stuff now.

    This is for sure a story that could be adapted for the screen but I'm so glad that Mirny could chose the stage. There are evocative stage pictures that I picture on botht the Broadway and black box college theatre level and at its core it's a play about people talking and connecting which is what I look for in theatre. I love that that it's a queer story where being queer is not the main character trait of these individuals and trauma is handled here with such care. I need to read Tillie Walden's stuff now.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization MJ Roundtable, Year June 2025

Production History

  • Type University, Organization Playwrights Horizons Theater School, Year November 2024

Awards

  • Semi-Finalist
    SheNYC Arts
    Semi-Finalist
    2024