Ripe Frenzy by Jennifer Barclay

Ripe Frenzy, winner of the 2016-17 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, is having a 2018 National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at New Rep in Boston, Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta and Greenway Court in LA.

Ripe Frenzy is set in a small town in upstate New York, where the high school is famous for having done the most productions of Our Town of any school, ever. On opening night of...
Ripe Frenzy, winner of the 2016-17 NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre, is having a 2018 National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at New Rep in Boston, Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta and Greenway Court in LA.

Ripe Frenzy is set in a small town in upstate New York, where the high school is famous for having done the most productions of Our Town of any school, ever. On opening night of the school’s 40th production, a student open fires with an AR-15. Time is slippery as the play submerges us in the before, during and after of the shooting, using Our Town as a framework to examine what has become our new American norm. Told from the perspective of the mothers of the town, the play questions our own culpability in the perpetuation of mass shootings in our country.

From the beginning, Barclay has been collaborating with projections designer Jared Mezzocchi to embed media design into the text as its own subversive character. The play challenges us to investigate the ability of media to spread our current national contagion.

You can read the Boston Globe preview article for the New Rep premiere here:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2018/02/20/this-fictional-town-consequences-school-shooting-are-all-too-real/EwAYDh6Lo4NNSGTeT3r3jK/story.html

You can read the American Theatre article featuring Ripe Frenzy here:
https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/04/02/plays-about-guns-with-varying-aims/
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Ripe Frenzy

Recommended by

  • Glynn Cosker:
    15 Jun. 2021
    “ I saw a production of this play at Andy's Summer Playhouse in NH, and it was fantastic. The writing is crisp, poignant, and REAL. I was very moved by the performances I saw - which speaks volumes for the playwright. Heart-wrenching, salient, forceful, compelling and captivating writing. Well done. Seeing this play inspired me to write my own. ”
  • Cheryl Bear:
    20 Apr. 2021
    “ A powerful look at the norm of a school shooting in this country. How do you cope in the aftermath? Riveting and well done. ”
  • Chandler Hubbard:
    3 Feb. 2021
    “ Distressing and disturbing but ultimately human. Does not try to explain, like so many of our own "manifestos" on why people choose violence; instead, it gives credence to the quiet, mundane nature of seeking answers. ”
View all 14 recommendations

Character Information

NOTES:
Please cast with diversity in mind. Zoe's son is a white American male, and so Zoe also needs to be white. BJM also needs to be white for the same reasons. So, I encourage you to find diversity with the casting of the other characters.

Bethany/Hadley are intended to be double cast, and so are Matt/BJM. However, a production could separate the roles. This would allow for greater diversity in casting.

This play can also be produced with the support of a large ensemble of high-school aged actors to play the Tavistown High students.

  • Zoe
    38-50,
    White
    ,
    Female
    Town Historian. Grounded, a fast thinker. She is ebullient and magnetic.

    Her son needs to be a white American male, so she needs to be white.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Miriam
    38-50,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    Professor of Literature
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any actor of color
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Felicia
    38-50,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    Surgeon. A lesbian.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any actor of color
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Matt
    17,
    Any
    ,
    Male
    Matt is Felicia's son; a popular boy at Tavistown High. Can be doubled with Bryan James McNamara.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Hadley
    17,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    Miriam's daughter; a sweet girl with a temper. Can be doubled with Bethany.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Bryan James McNamara
    17,
    White
    ,
    Male
    Alternatively frightening and vulnerable. The average school shooter is a 17-year-old white American male, and so BJM needs to be white. Can be doubled with Matt.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      White
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Bethany
    14,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    An outcast. Can be doubled with Hadley.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    PlayPenn & NNPN
    ,
    2017
  • Workshop
    ,
    Ojai Playwrights Conference
    ,
    2017
  • Commission
    ,
    NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theatre
    ,
    2016
  • Workshop
    ,
    Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co
    ,
    2016
  • Residency
    ,
    MacDowell Fellowship
    ,
    2016

Production History

  • Professional
    ,
    Andy's Summer Playhouse
    ,
    2019
  • Professional
    ,
    Synchronicity Theatre
    ,
    2018
  • Professional
    ,
    Greenway Arts Alliance / Greenway Court Theatre
    ,
    2018

Awards

Winner
,
Writers Alliance Grant
,
Dramatists Guild Fund
,
2018
Winner
,
Smith Prize for Political Theatre
,
NNPN
,
2016