SEEDS (audio one-act available) by Donna Hoke

Years of infertility treatment have convinced married research scientist that she doesn’t want children, even though her single, identical twin Josephine has three. Too bad Marjorie’s husband, Aidan, isn’t ready to give up his quest for a biological child. When Josephine offers the couple the “ideal” solution—egg donor surrogacy—salesman Aidan gives the pitch of his life and convinces his hesitant wife to...
Years of infertility treatment have convinced married research scientist that she doesn’t want children, even though her single, identical twin Josephine has three. Too bad Marjorie’s husband, Aidan, isn’t ready to give up his quest for a biological child. When Josephine offers the couple the “ideal” solution—egg donor surrogacy—salesman Aidan gives the pitch of his life and convinces his hesitant wife to inseminate Josephine in their living room.

Aidan and Jo bond over the resulting pregnancy, but Marjorie’s just not feeling it. When baby Joseph is born early with serious health issues, Aidan embraces his new role as a father, but Marjorie’s inability to bond with the baby is obvious—a situation that doesn’t improve much after his birth.

As fear over Joseph’s prognosis increases, the insecurities that brought the sisters to this point come to the fore until finally Josephine offers—and insists—that Joseph come home with her. Despite Aidan’s protestations, Marjorie is unable to put up a fight but in relinquishing motherhood, she is at last ready to welcome Joseph.

Winner, Emanuel Fried Award for Oustanding New Play

One-act sixty-minute version under "Script Sample."

One-act sixty-minute audio version under "Score."
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SEEDS (audio one-act available)

Recommended by

  • Sarah Tuft:
    11 Mar. 2022
    “ With SEEDS, Hoke explores age-old questions about how and when the biological urge to procreate weighs on families and especially on women, who—as the pandemic showed us—still bear most of the burden. But as weighty as those ideas are, this is no intellectual treatise. Instead, SEEDS is a sizzling simmering story of passion and possession with twists and turns along the way. The one-act audio play is superbly produced!! ”
  • John Mabey:
    25 Sep. 2020
    “ This is such a gripping and multilayered play about complex choices, family and decisions surrounding parenthood. Donna Hoke does an exceptional job exploring the motivations of each character while providing surprises about their connections. The audio version is especially successful, too, where the use of sound and music support the script itself while also providing additional context and meaning. This is a play I'd greatly enjoy watching on stage and it was incredibly successful as I listened to the audio version through KDC Theatre. ”
  • Elana Gartner:
    25 Sep. 2018
    “ This is has heartbreaks happening in so many parts of the plot, so many characters being squeezed into places they are not comfortable. Hoke does an excellent job of bringing to life some of the real complications that face couples and parents as they approach having children and caring for them. ”
View all 5 recommendations

Character Information

If the right actress presents herself, I like the dramaturgical sense of doubling ALICE/KAY, mothers who are two sides of the same coin.
.
Josephine and Marjorie are identical twins but by age 33, most identical twins have developed their own styles and look; in other words, you don't need identical twins to play these roles, particularly as there is a scene that helps cement them as twins. In production, it was a non-issue.

  • Josephine
    33,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    preschool aide, single mother of three children by different fathers.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Marjorie
    33, Array,
    Female
    Josephine’s identical twin sister, a PhD level research scientist trying to discover a link between Alzheimer’s and estrogen deficiency
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Aidan
    34,
    Any
    ,
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Kay
    50,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    A firecracker who tells it like it is
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s, 50s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Alice
    72,
    White
    ,
    Female
    Aidan's adoptive mother
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      50s, 60s, 70s+
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White
    • Gender: 
      Female

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Women's Theatre Festival
    ,
    2020
  • Reading
    ,
    Road Less Traveled Productions
    ,
    2011

Production History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Road Less Traveled Productions: Winner Emanuel Fried Outstanding New Play
    ,
    2013

Awards

Finalist
,
T. Schreiber New Works
,
T. Schreiber Studio
,
2013
Winner
,
Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play
,
Artie Awards
,
2013