On Break at L.L. Bean by Donnetta Lavinia Grays

Ali, an 18-year-old Somali refugee grateful to his adoptive nation, wants to enlist in the Army. Jerome, Ali’s 65-year-old coworker who views him as close as a son, fears for this young Muslim man’s life in a nation increasingly resistant to him. Set in Freeport, Maine. About a half hour outside of Lewiston.

A play about love of country and the love between men.

Commissioned by Now...
Ali, an 18-year-old Somali refugee grateful to his adoptive nation, wants to enlist in the Army. Jerome, Ali’s 65-year-old coworker who views him as close as a son, fears for this young Muslim man’s life in a nation increasingly resistant to him. Set in Freeport, Maine. About a half hour outside of Lewiston.

A play about love of country and the love between men.

Commissioned by Now Africa Playwrights Festival
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On Break at L.L. Bean

Recommended by

  • Vince Gatton:
    21 Jun. 2021
    “ What a lovely and powerful short play. The competing perspectives between Jerome, an elderly Black man, and Ali, a young Somali refugee, are loaded with history, wonder, pain, joy, and mutual love & respect. Both in their own way strangers in a strange (very white) land, the bond they share is tender and beautiful -- as is this play's understanding of how love and critique of a people and a place can (and possibly must) co-exist. ”
  • Steven G. Martin:
    19 Jun. 2021
    “ This 10-minute drama juxtaposes youthful Romantic optimism and exuberance with the wisdom of experience, pragmatism and cultural history. All against the backdrop of America's determination not to accept Black people, Muslim people or their sacrifice.

    Donnetta Lavinia Grays has written about wanting to love America despite messages that it won't love you back. Intergenerational black actors will shine in "On Break at L.L. Bean," a play that ends with an impasse of respect and sadness as the two men believe what they believe.

    Grays includes a list of references, highlighting Somali history and the impact of refugees in Maine. ”
  • Jordan Elizabeth Henry:
    19 Feb. 2018
    “ What a beautiful, heart-felt exploration of kinship between two men: their conflict is real, immediate, and visceral because the love between them feels so true. There are so many gems tucked inside this short play. ”

Development History

  • Commission
    ,
    Now Africa Playwrights Festival
    ,
    2016