The Colony by Gina Stevensen

In 1924 Virginia, a dirt-poor young woman named Carrie Buck is brought to a mysterious medical facility. No one will tell her why she’s here, or where her two-month-old daughter is. The Doctor in charge is a charming progressive, a student of the new science of heredity and genes. In Carrie, he finds the missing link his entire movement has been searching for, placing her at the center of a chain of events that...
In 1924 Virginia, a dirt-poor young woman named Carrie Buck is brought to a mysterious medical facility. No one will tell her why she’s here, or where her two-month-old daughter is. The Doctor in charge is a charming progressive, a student of the new science of heredity and genes. In Carrie, he finds the missing link his entire movement has been searching for, placing her at the center of a chain of events that will lead all the way to the Supreme Court. Based on a true story, THE COLONY asks: how does our society, past and present, regulate the bodies of women deemed "undesirable"?
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The Colony

Recommended by

  • Stephen Foglia:
    23 Sep. 2019
    “ The Colony is a brilliantly unsettling play, a scary slow-drip indictment of a vast ideology that sees women's bodies as a means for the purposes of others. Gina Stevenson writes with such delicacy and heart that the grief and moral horror at the center of the story become all the more penetrating. It's a play that really comes and finds you where you live. ”
  • Andy Boyd:
    10 Mar. 2019
    “ The Colony is the only play I know of about the eugenics movement, which attempted to systematically deny women who were poor, black, or disabled the right to reproduce. Gina's play refuses to place eugenics in the safe category of "ideas we don't believe anymore," asking us profound questions about why a woman's ability to reproduce on terms of her choosing is still so threatening in 2019. ”
  • Audrey Webb:
    22 Sep. 2018
    “ Powerful imagery, powerful message. It's horrifying to contemplate that the events that sparked this play actually happened -- and continue to play out as politics determine the rights of others to access to and decisions on the fate on the female body. Stevensen masterfully takes the audience on a journey that spans decades. The gut-punch of the play's final moments should spark not only conversation, but also -- hopefully -- action.
    ”

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Urban Stages (off-Broadway)
    ,
    2018

Production History

  • Professional
    ,
    Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company
    ,
    2021
  • Workshop
    ,
    The Joust Theatre Company
    ,
    2018
  • University
    ,
    Columbia University MFA Playwriting Program @ The Signature Theater
    ,
    2018

Awards

Selection
,
21st Century Voices New Play Festival
,
American Stage
,
2019
Semi-Finalist
,
Bay Area Playwrights Festival
,
2019
Winner
,
Columbia@Roundabout New Play Reading Series
,
Roundabout Theatre Company
,
2019
Finalist
,
MFA Playwrights Workshop
,
The Kennedy Center
,
2018
Semi-Finalist
,
Creative Residency
,
SPACE on Ryder Farm
,
2018
Semi-Finalist
,
Austin Film Festival Playwriting Competition
,
2018