You Have To Promise by Audrey Lang

[PRIDE PLAYS 2020] Seventeen-year-olds Maeve and Nessa have been best friends their entire lives. Three months ago, they discovered what they had was more than a friendship. When they decide to come out to their families together, Nessa's father kicks her out and the girls scramble to come up with a solution, all the while lying to Maeve's stepmother Rachael and trying to dream their way to being grown-up.
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You Have To Promise

Recommended by

  • Emma Goldman-Sherman:
    31 Oct. 2020
    “ Audrey Lang has written a beautiful play. Besides the solid scene work, there are these snowy/dreamy sequences of high school characters projecting for themselves a future that we all want them to have. Of course we know that life doesn't happen that way, so it's heart-breaking. But the life that fills all aspects of this play is enormously appealing! ”
  • Chambers Stevens:
    21 Sep. 2020
    “ Lets start with the title. So many plays have sucky titles. but don't you just love this one... "You Have to Promise"?
    I download the script and immediately love the way the words look on the page.
    Ms. Lang writes the way actors think. I started to read it out loud.
    And the emotion just leaps off the page.
    Right away I knew that Ms. Lang is a playwright to watch.
    That was my first thought. And my second was...someone needs to do this play.
    Can't wait to dive into the rest of Ms. Lang's work! ”
  • Nick Malakhow:
    21 Jun. 2020
    “ A beautiful play that explores so many intricate and well-rendered people and connections! Maeve and Nessa's relationship is painted here with a fine brush that honors their intelligence and individuality as humans, interrogates the relationship's strengths and limitations, and honors their obstacles while focusing on queer hope vs. tragedy. I appreciated the representation of multiple parental responses to their queer teens coming out, and the centering of healthy action steps in the face of adverse circumstances. This is a piece that should be read/consumed/performed by and for young folks (though it would also resonate with all ages). Wonderful! ”
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Character Information

  • Maeve
    17,
    Any race / ethnicity
    ,
    Female-identifying
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Nessa
    17,
    Cuban-American
    ,
    Female-identifying
    Maeve's best friend and more recently, girlfriend.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Darcy
    8,
    Any race / ethnicity
    ,
    Female-identifying
    Maeve's half-sister.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Child, Teens
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Rachael
    late 30s to mid 40s,
    Any race / ethnicity
    ,
    Female-identifying
    Maeve's stepmother and Darcy's mother.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s, 50s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Actors’ Rep New Works Nite, Dir. Savannah Whetsell
    ,
    2020
  • Workshop
    ,
    PRIDE PLAYS, Dir. Jenna Worsham
    ,
    2020
  • Reading
    ,
    New York City, Dir. Rachael Langton
    ,
    2018
  • Workshop
    ,
    Ithaca College, Dir. Rachael Langton
    ,
    2018
  • Reading
    ,
    Ithaca College, Dir. Rachael Langton
    ,
    2017

Awards

Finalist
,
21st Century Voices New Play Festival
,
American Stage
,
2020