Dust by Danielle Mohlman

Wrestling with the reality that everyone he's ever known was just killed in a shooting at his school, Boy spends his last minutes spinning a story that looks not unlike J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. These young women, these mermaids, compete to be heard as their story unfolds. They are the swim team – powerful and sometimes monstrous. And then there’s Wendy. His Wendy. Boy is convinced that she’s the only...
Wrestling with the reality that everyone he's ever known was just killed in a shooting at his school, Boy spends his last minutes spinning a story that looks not unlike J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. These young women, these mermaids, compete to be heard as their story unfolds. They are the swim team – powerful and sometimes monstrous. And then there’s Wendy. His Wendy. Boy is convinced that she’s the only person who understands him. Until she doesn’t. Part dance, part theatre, Dust plays like a music score that’s been infiltrated by poetry, giving voice to the unspeakable.
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Dust

Recommended by

  • Daniel Repp:
    20 Mar. 2022
    “ A play that uses its ensemble as a powerful hurricane. The women in the chorus (as few as 6 and as many as 49!) gather speed for overwhelming moments that bring the calmer sections into sharp focus. This play lives confidently in the "anger" stage of grief, giving voice to the victims of gun violence and letting them take their revenge on toxic masculinity. ”
  • Noel VanDenBosch:
    28 Nov. 2020
    “ As the play unfolds, the Boy's story he tell himself starts to crumble. Toxic masculinity and gun violence are confronted head-on in this powerful script as Wendy and the other women take their story back. ”
  • Anamaria Guerzon:
    2 Nov. 2020
    “ This play is raw, and angry, and hopeful, all at the same time, which is what I believe the best works of art always are.

    I've been attached to this project for many years, as an actor, musical orchestrator, and director, and my admiration for the play has only grown over time.

    Danielle uses Boy's inner world to craft a play about toxic masculinity, victimization of femme people in toxic masculinity, and the ultimate destructive pathway that it crafts. She uses this play to put words to the unspeakable: school shootings', men, women, and accountability.

    Read this play. ”
View all 12 recommendations

Character Information

BOY must be played by a white actor. The cast as a whole cannot be more than 50% white.

  • Boy
    18,
    White
    ,
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Wendy
    18,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary
  • Lily
    17,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary
  • Isabel
    17,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary
  • The Mermaids
    14 to 18,
    Female, Female or Non-binary
    six to forty-six young women
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Cygnet Theatre
    ,
    2018
  • Workshop
    ,
    Sewanee Writers' Conference
    ,
    2016
  • Reading
    ,
    The Inkwell
    ,
    2013
  • Workshop
    ,
    Artists' Bloc
    ,
    2013
  • Reading
    ,
    Artists' Bloc
    ,
    2012

Production History

  • University
    ,
    Pacific Lutheran University
    ,
    2021
  • University
    ,
    Sam Houston State University
    ,
    2019
  • Workshop
    ,
    Youth Theatre Northwest
    ,
    2018

Awards

Winner
,
Finish Line Commission
,
Cygnet Theatre
,
2018