YELLA JACK by Donna Latham

When most rich white folks in Memphis up sticks and flee after yellow fever, a “stranger’s disease,” ravages the city, determined residents hunker down to stay alive in the purgatorial city. They form a found family to nurse the sick, keep the city afloat, embrace new opportunities—and scheme revenge. Jack, a serial-killing embodiment of contagion, collects trophies from victims—earbobs, rings, pearls, and a...
When most rich white folks in Memphis up sticks and flee after yellow fever, a “stranger’s disease,” ravages the city, determined residents hunker down to stay alive in the purgatorial city. They form a found family to nurse the sick, keep the city afloat, embrace new opportunities—and scheme revenge. Jack, a serial-killing embodiment of contagion, collects trophies from victims—earbobs, rings, pearls, and a precious symbol of humanity. When Sister Gregory fails to return after nursing fever folk in Shanty Town, the found family fears the worst. All pray for frost. As ever.

Omi Friday's monologue "I do despise the color red" is anthologized in S&K The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2022.
Semi-finalist for the AACT NewPlayFest 2024
Semi-finalist for the Morgan-Wixson New Play Festival 2023
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YELLA JACK

Recommended by

  • Emma Bilderback:
    31 Oct. 2023
    “ Donna has created a world teeming with life (quite ironically). The relationships between the women are what makes the piece really sing--and none of it feels shoehorned or forced in any way. It stays true to its era while still being cognizant of modern sensibilities. It's also a fascinating look at historical parallels to our own contemporary collective traumas. ”
  • The Depot for New Play Readings:
    26 Aug. 2022
    “ Donna Latham’s Southern Gothic “Yella Jack” powerfully renders an unlikely sisterhood who convert a brothel into a hospital for the indigent. In language that is closer to poetry than prose, and dotted with extraordinary monologues, Latham plumbs medical history, women’s history, class, race, and the traditions of multiple religions in a story about a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, 1878. Like Shakespeare, Latham employs humor and pathos, and like the Greeks, she structures the play around short scenes and choral-like odes. The result is compelling and unforgettable. A gem for an ensemble of diverse actors. Strongly recommended. ”
  • Dana Hall:
    7 Aug. 2022
    “ An amazing ensemble piece with diverse and well-developed characters. The language is poetic, symbolic and deeply impactful. Though we are in Memphis 1878 we are cannot help draw similarities to our modern day. Donna writes strong female characters and paints a picture that you can hear through the text. This is a must read. ”
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Character Information

Characters 5F, 3M

  • Sister Gregory
    20s-30s,
    White
    ,
    a woman
    Sister of Charity novice; leaves convent where she’s serving penance to tend the sick and refuses to return
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Omi Friday
    any age,
    African American/Black
    ,
    a woman
    Root worker in deep ancestral connection; loses job when her employers flee town; steps up to cook for the hospital
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • Moze
    20s,
    African American / Black
    ,
    a man
    Handyman turned body collector; does the city’s hideous jobs, stashes earnings with entrepreneurial plans
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Jack Stranger
    Any,
    White
    ,
    Any man
    Crass drifter; physical embodiment of contagion; serial killer collecting trophies
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Elvira
    any age,
    Any
    ,
    woman
    Madame/sex worker who offers the Pink Place bordello as a makeshift indigent hospital
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Doctor Rebecca Bernstein
    20s-30s,
    White
    ,
    woman
    Early-career doctor who studied in Europe; stoic and given to melancholy;
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Chorus
    any age,
    m
    Chorus M
     Father Brandt
     Doctor Lowell
     Patient (Irish immigrant, offstage voice)
     Preacher, (Offstage voice)
     Cannon Man (Offstage voice)
     Carriage Driver (Offstage voice)
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender
  • Blossom
    20s,
    Black
    ,
    a woman
    Youngest of the women; street vendor who sells lemonade near the bordello with dreams of bottling fizzy beverages
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Gender: 
      Any gender

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Atlanta Dramatists
    ,
    2025
  • Reading
    ,
    Arts Fort Worth Original Works Series
    ,
    2023
  • Reading
    ,
    JaYo Théâtre Washington, D.C.
    ,
    2022
  • Reading
    ,
    Wild Imaginings, Epiphanies New Works Festival Semi-Finalist
    ,
    2021
  • Reading
    ,
    Semi-Finalist JOOK’s Summer Spotlight Series, MS
    ,
    2021
  • Reading
    ,
    Wild Imaginings, Epiphanies New Works Festival Finalist, Waco, TX
    ,
    2021
  • Reading
    ,
    Naked Angels, NYC
    ,
    2021
  • Workshop
    ,
    JaYo Théâtre Washington, D.C.
    ,
    2021

Awards

Semi-Finalist
,
YELLA JACK was a semi-finalist for the AACT NewPlayFest
,
2024
Semi-Finalist
,
New Play Competition
,
Market House Theatre
,
2022