Queen of Sad Mischance by John Minigan

2022 Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting, ATHE/Kennedy Center

A play about academia, race, power and belonging.

Intense bi-racial college senior Kym thinks she’s lucked into the perfect resume-builder: a research assistantship helping white feminist scholar Beverly Norden finish her ground-breaking book on Shakespeare’s Queen Margaret before Alzheimer’s makes the task...
2022 Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting, ATHE/Kennedy Center

A play about academia, race, power and belonging.

Intense bi-racial college senior Kym thinks she’s lucked into the perfect resume-builder: a research assistantship helping white feminist scholar Beverly Norden finish her ground-breaking book on Shakespeare’s Queen Margaret before Alzheimer’s makes the task impossible. As Kym learns that more than Beverly’s failing memory stands in the way of both the book and the carefully-planned trajectory of her own future career, she has to use her own understanding of the Margaret story to find a new path forward.



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Queen of Sad Mischance

Recommended by

  • Brigid Amos:
    21 Mar. 2024
    “ I watched the the recent CreateTheater Monday Night Development Series rebroadcast of the TRU Voices Series reading of this gripping play. I found myself completely engrossed in Kym's ethical dilemmna as she struggled to choose between transparency leading to a potential roadblock and academic subterfuge leading either to great success or utter disaster. Minigan does an amazing job of showing us that in academia, as in Shakespeare's world, forming the right alliances and making the right decisions at the right time is everything. ”
  • Suzanne Delle:
    1 Jun. 2023
    “ A moving play that explores what happens when we feel like we don't belong. As someone who teaches at a college, I can say that Minigan got all the academic details just right without sacrificing the true relationship drama at the center of the story. Great characters that allow actors to explore complexity of relationship and feeling. Simple set and few characters make for ease of production. ”
  • Paul Donnelly:
    16 Apr. 2023
    “ One woman finds herself while another loses herself in this extraordinary and engrossing play. From its erudite exploration of academic ambition to its clear-eyed depiction of the cost and the fear of early onset Alzheimer's, the narrative never ceases to engage and to move beyond facile resolutions. I am in awe of the craft and the insight that inform every page. ”
View all 35 recommendations

Kym, 21, she/her, biracial (Black/white) college senior
Beverly, 55, she/her, white feminist Shakespeare scholar with early-onset Alzheimer's
Roy, 28, he/him, white, Beverly's son and caretaker

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    TRU -- Theatre Resources Unlimited
    ,
    2023
  • Reading
    ,
    Great Plains Theatre Conference
    ,
    2019
  • Workshop
    ,
    Portland Stage Company
    ,
    2019
  • Workshop
    ,
    Dayton Playhouse
    ,
    2018

Awards

Winner
,
Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting
,
AHTE/Kennedy Center
,
2022
Winner
,
Louise Wigglesworth Excellence in Playwriting Award
,
The Laboratory Theater of Florida
,
2022
Winner
,
New American Voices Festival
,
The Landing Theatre Company
,
2020
Winner
,
Gold Prize, Clauder Competition for New England Plays
,
Portland Stage Company
,
2019
Finalist
,
Playwrights' Week
,
The Lark
,
2018
Winner
,
Pestalozzi Prize
,
Firehouse Center for the Arts New Works Festival
,
2017