THE GROWING STONE

As a child, Matt Barnett was sexually abused for five years by his evangelical Christian father. Soon after his father's sudden death, Matt leaves home for a fresh start, and carves out a new life for himself overseas, working as an energy consultant. Now, more than two decades later, he returns to Vermont after learning from his widowed younger brother, Luke, that their dementia-stricken mother is dying....
As a child, Matt Barnett was sexually abused for five years by his evangelical Christian father. Soon after his father's sudden death, Matt leaves home for a fresh start, and carves out a new life for himself overseas, working as an energy consultant. Now, more than two decades later, he returns to Vermont after learning from his widowed younger brother, Luke, that their dementia-stricken mother is dying. Luke is a teacher who still lives in the local community with his 16-year-old daughter, Enaj. Quietly passionate about Native American rights and culture, Luke is helping to fight a gas pipeline project that threatens an ancient Abenaki burial ground.

Matt has always believed his mother was complicit in the abuse – and as part his own healing process, he wants to learn the truth before it’s too late. But the conversation never happens: his mother dies soon after his arrival. Luke then reveals that he is fatally sick with cancer and asks Matt to become Enaj’s guardian after his death and to move back to Vermont to be with her. For Matt, that would mean living once again in the community of his traumatized childhood. His love, loyalty and resilience are tested as never before.
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THE GROWING STONE

Recommended by

  • Lucretia Anne Flammang:
    13 Nov. 2018
    Readers at the Depot for New Play Readings loved "The Growing Stone." Peter Snoad explores the generational impact of sexual abuse and death and mourning in this wrenching play about the possibility of redemption, forgiveness, and growth in stony soil. The characters are well-drawn and sympathetic, the dialog pops, and the final monologue is an emotional knock-out. This play earns its ending.


  • Rachel Bublitz:
    30 Apr. 2018
    A shocking play about family, trauma, and memory. THE GROWING TREE is able to go to very dark a places because the love and strength of the characters and their relationships allows an audience to go there. I also really loved the sense of place infused in the piece.

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Finalist, Detroit New Works Festival, Outvisible Theatre
    ,
    2018
  • Reading
    ,
    The Depot for New Play Readings, Hampton, CT
    ,
    2018

Awards

Finalist
,
American Dreaming: New Play Festival
,
Middlebury Acting Company, Middlebury, VT
,
2022
Semi-Finalist
,
Panndora's Box New Play Festival
,
Panndora Productions
,
2021
Finalist
,
Rising Artists Playwriting Contest
,
Southwest Theatre Productions
,
2020
Finalist
,
Detroit New Works Festival
,
Outvisible Theatre
,
2018
Finalist
,
Granite State Playwrights Workshop
,
Working Title Productions
,
2017