LUMIN

The pigs are stressed, Liv won’t eat, and Ma wants everyone to follow the Constitutions. Set in a modern-day commune on the outskirts of the Chihuahuan desert in Texas, this new play about our need for community, asks why the line between delusion and what the rest of us believe, is getting blurrier than ever.


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LUMIN

Recommended by

  • Shaun Leisher:
    27 Aug. 2023
    Loved this thrilling play about the lengths people will go to keep their community together.
  • Greg Romero:
    18 Jul. 2023
    I watched a reading of LUMIN as part of the 2023 Valdez Theater Conference, and I continue to be so impressed by Emma Gibson's writing. This play took me on many emotional journeys, while also (appropriately, horrifyingly) fogging my mind, while also expressing profound, complicated beauty. Gibson's storytelling here smartly plays with time, revealing details that shift perceptions, also bringing urgency and danger to moments that are frightening. The play - with its sounds and visuals - is both theatrical and stifling, placing us in the impossible, heartbreaking, dizzying situations these characters find themselves in. Excellent, challenging, impressive work.
  • Michael C. O'Day:
    28 Jun. 2023
    There may be topical echoes of modern-day cults, but at its heart LUMIN is a tragic mystery in the grand American gothic tradition, and a damn good one. It has a wonderfully disturbing insight at its core: in our ever more hectic and disconnected world, communities like Lumin, and leaders like Ma (a terrifically sympathetic villain) seem all too right and reasonable - until the moment their beliefs bring down tragedy on all around them. Marvelously well crafted, and oh so satisfyingly sinister.

Character Information

  • Ma
    60-70
  • Liv
    14
  • Julian
    40 - 50's
  • Clancy
    33
  • Chorus (if used)
    any

Development History

Awards

Finalist
,
NAP Series
,
Normal Ave
,
2023
Top 35 (from 1468 entries) - New Writing Prize
,
Papatango
,
2023
Runner Up
,
Amabassador Theatre Group Playwriting Prize with Platform Presents
,
2023
Shortlist
,
Women's Prize for Playwriting
,
2023
Finalist
,
Create Theater and Prism Theatre New Play Development
,
Create Theater and Prism Theatre Company
,
2023
Theatre 503 International Playwriting Award - shortlist
,
Theatre 503
,
2023
Finalist
,
New play conference
,
Seven Devils Playwrights Conference
,
2023
Selection
,
New Play Conference
,
Valdez Theatre Conference
,
2023
Selection
,
Festival
,
From Page to Stage: That's what she said
,
2023
Finalist
,
Princess Grace Award /Fellowship at New Dramatists
,
,
2023