Albemarle by Caridad Svich

2021 Finalist Blue Ink Playwriting Award, American Blues Theater, Chicago.

a sequel (of sorts) to RED BIKE. may be performed as audio, digital or live drama.
the Odyssey of the Other(ed). a dark night of the soul. a reckoning.

I lives in Mine's house in a town in the edge-lands. I Misses You, but won't tell anyone. It's Sunday. And last night was a drunken...
2021 Finalist Blue Ink Playwriting Award, American Blues Theater, Chicago.

a sequel (of sorts) to RED BIKE. may be performed as audio, digital or live drama.
the Odyssey of the Other(ed). a dark night of the soul. a reckoning.

I lives in Mine's house in a town in the edge-lands. I Misses You, but won't tell anyone. It's Sunday. And last night was a drunken night. This night is going to be the same, but different, on account of a badger and a mysterious opera palace and some other things. How do we come of age when we come of age? How do we live in a movie when we're IRL?

ABOUT THE PLAY: A comic piece with darkish overtones that may be played by one to four actors (or more) that invites choreographic staging, musical underscoring, and an expressive lightness in its playing. Its focus is on class dynamics, inequality, and search for spiritual grace. It paints a portrait of a town called Albemarle in the edgelands, and a figure named I (ideally played by female or non-binary actor) that is on the cusp of finding themselves after a prolonged period of mourning someone they loved. In the play, in a picaresque manner, we follow I as they encounter Mine's, their guardian, their Friend, a Squatter, a Badger and a Cleaner on a long night as the one they love and lost haunts their imagination. Each encounter is a step toward potential transformation and redemption. Written in ardent yet plain-spoken poetic prose, the piece is an intimate yet epic personal soul ride that casts a wide, long view on subjects of climate grief and change, late capitalism, and hope in the body politic.
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Albemarle

Recommended by

  • Nick Malakhow:
    28 Dec. 2020
    “ An exciting, inventive, and highly original piece! Not only did the spare, lyrical poetry read beautifully on the page, but it was also easy to imagine this as an audio, teleconferencing, or live play. It would live and breathe well in each medium. Compelling and briskly moving storytelling that stuck with me long after in the way it addressed moving on and giving into despair vs. charging forth with hope. There is a warm everyday humor about it that is paired with a sense of whimsy and magic and a spare beauty. ”
  • Anne Mason:
    21 Mar. 2020
    “ As an actor/director/producer who is drawn to pieces that present the reality of life in beautiful and unique manners, as well as work that highlights the binding qualities of the human race, ALBEMARLE was right up my alley. The play is lyrically poetic, lulling you into lushly imaginative sensations; then sharply, bitingly aware and strikingly disheartening. As the night carries on, we come to find that I's shoes are a universal one-size-fits-all, solidifying that we are all "one mad beautiful human race." ”
  • Ashley Edwards:
    21 Mar. 2020
    “ I am so thankful for this play. It felt timely to enjoy right now with such prophetic and poetic lines of dialogue, complex - but simple - layers in the characters; and the attention to what is happening now. The comedy is refreshing and intimate. The story is both timeless and timely. (March 21, 2020) ”
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Casting is open, yet should be inclusive in all senses and reflective of the world.
doubling options below, if cast with four.

I, female or non-binary or male
Mine/Badger, female or male
Friend/Aunties/Young One, female or non binary
Squatter/Cleaner, female or male.

May also be done as live, audio or digital drama.

Development History

Awards