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

  • Erin Murray:
    11 Jan. 2019
    “ DUST is more than a play, it’s a conversation lightning rod for performers, creative team, and audience alike around the themes of youth and gun violence. I mounted a full workshop production for Youth Theatre Northwest at the height of the 2018 #Enough movement and it inspired change in everyone in its presence. The play exposes the misogyny at the heart of most school shootings and the presence of sexual assault often gone unacknowledged in America's high schools. Movement, music, and a mindful creative process await the director who works on this lyrical fairy tale-like nightmare for the SnapChat generation. ”
  • Shaun Leisher:
    11 Jan. 2019
    “ Theatre can't be all escapist entertainment. It needs to expose atrocities and give voice to the voiceless. As long as women's voices are silenced and ignored, men will be free to commit horrible violence against them. This play needs to heard and seen. People always say art can change the world. This is the kind of work that actually can. ”
  • Mario Gomez:
    3 Jan. 2019
    “ Danielle writes plays that fulfill one of the most important things theater can do, explore and shine a light on relevant contemporary themes. Dust does this. School shootings, toxic masculinity, sexism, all come into play in the play. This piece asks those questions and more - for example, the framing that Danielle uses for this play, without giving anything away, made me ask myself tough questions about how we tell these stories, how I perceive them through my own privilege, and what conversations we need to have. ”
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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
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Wendy
    18,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Lily
    17,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Isabel
    17,
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • The Mermaids
    14 to 18,
    Female, Female or Non-binary
    six to forty-six young women
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens
    • 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
  • Professional
    ,
    Dacha Theatre
    ,
    2020
  • University
    ,
    Sam Houston State University
    ,
    2019
  • Workshop
    ,
    Youth Theatre Northwest
    ,
    2018

Awards

Winner
,
Finish Line Commission
,
Cygnet Theatre
,
2018