What We Cast Off, What We Keep

by Judy Klass

Janet is hanging out with Molly, a friend she has not seen in decades. Molly's marriage has ended in the midst of her husband's mid-life crisis. Janet wants to help her, and is willing to be friends again, but feels hurt at how Molly allowed her husband to cut Molly's old friends, including Janet, out of Molly's life. They compare notes on people they know, (and Janet has lost other friends when the friends...

Janet is hanging out with Molly, a friend she has not seen in decades. Molly's marriage has ended in the midst of her husband's mid-life crisis. Janet wants to help her, and is willing to be friends again, but feels hurt at how Molly allowed her husband to cut Molly's old friends, including Janet, out of Molly's life. They compare notes on people they know, (and Janet has lost other friends when the friends coupled up) and talk of their grown children. Janet shows Molly the terrarium in which she is raising Monarch butterflies; some of the caterpillars have turned into chrysalises on its roof. Janet's husband Stanley wanders in several times, talking about an article he's reading about nebulae formed from gases sloughed off of dying stars. Janet tries to use both the butterfly metaphor for change and the nebula metaphor to get Molly psyched about it. Molly says change sucks; she just wants a drink.

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What We Cast Off, What We Keep

Recommended by

  • Adam Richter: What We Cast Off, What We Keep by Judy Klass
    “

    The choices people make in their 20s reverberate well into their 50s, even if they don't foresee it. The beauty of "What We Cast Off, What We Keep" lies in how Molly and Janet both strive to undo the damage to their friendship caused by relationship choices made decades before. The frankness of their conversation resonates, as does their mutual effort to correct past wrongs.
    This play will leave audiences thinking about their own lives well after the lights go down.

    The choices people make in their 20s reverberate well into their 50s, even if they don't foresee it. The beauty of "What We Cast Off, What We Keep" lies in how Molly and Janet both strive to undo the damage to their friendship caused by relationship choices made decades before. The frankness of their conversation resonates, as does their mutual effort to correct past wrongs.
    This play will leave audiences thinking about their own lives well after the lights go down.

    ”
  • Paul Donnelly: What We Cast Off, What We Keep by Judy Klass
    “

    Old friends navigate old wounds and new ones as they attempt to reconnect after years of estrangement. Monarch butterflies form a lovely backdrop and offer a lovely metaphor for the change Molly must embrace, however reluctantly. Janet's forgiveness is offered with a bracing dose of pragmatism as she works through her feelings of abandonment and betrayal. That these friends face hard truths gives the hope that the friendship can move forward.

    Old friends navigate old wounds and new ones as they attempt to reconnect after years of estrangement. Monarch butterflies form a lovely backdrop and offer a lovely metaphor for the change Molly must embrace, however reluctantly. Janet's forgiveness is offered with a bracing dose of pragmatism as she works through her feelings of abandonment and betrayal. That these friends face hard truths gives the hope that the friendship can move forward.

    ”
  • Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn: What We Cast Off, What We Keep by Judy Klass
    “

    Friendships destroyed by romantic partners is nothing new, but Molly and Janet's honest conversation about the life they had when they were young and who they are now is super relatable. How they try to mend old wounds with metaphors and memory is lovely. Check this out on the Theatrical Shenanigans podcast!

    Friendships destroyed by romantic partners is nothing new, but Molly and Janet's honest conversation about the life they had when they were young and who they are now is super relatable. How they try to mend old wounds with metaphors and memory is lovely. Check this out on the Theatrical Shenanigans podcast!

    ”