GREAT WHITE

by Deborah Yarchun

Fourteen-year-old Brooke is in trouble. Her sixteen-year-old sister, Ivy, is manic and increasingly violent, and their mother, Gail, refuses to acknowledge the danger. As Brooke struggles to hold her family together, she copes by tracking a great white shark. This leads her to Luis, a troubled fifteen-year-old boy intent on swimming out to meet the shark in the ocean. As their friendship deepens, Brooke becomes...

Fourteen-year-old Brooke is in trouble. Her sixteen-year-old sister, Ivy, is manic and increasingly violent, and their mother, Gail, refuses to acknowledge the danger. As Brooke struggles to hold her family together, she copes by tracking a great white shark. This leads her to Luis, a troubled fifteen-year-old boy intent on swimming out to meet the shark in the ocean. As their friendship deepens, Brooke becomes increasingly aware of the shark drawing closer in her own life: that her sister, in a manic fit, might kill her. Set in southern Florida, between coastal floods, Great White is a coming-of-age drama that explores unremitting love for family, and the consequences of inaction.

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GREAT WHITE

Recommended by

  • Christian Flynn: GREAT WHITE by Deborah Yarchun
    “

    A great complicated play about real shit. No pulled punched. No easy answers. Not happy endings. Recommend.

    A great complicated play about real shit. No pulled punched. No easy answers. Not happy endings. Recommend.

    ”
  • David Templeton: GREAT WHITE by Deborah Yarchun
    “

    I read this play a couple of years ago, and continue to think about it. Especially when I see anything about sharks. Of course, it's not really about sharks so much as it's about the way one broken family functions, and its ideas have a true power to stick with you and linger long afterwards. But then ... sharks. This is a great play.

    I read this play a couple of years ago, and continue to think about it. Especially when I see anything about sharks. Of course, it's not really about sharks so much as it's about the way one broken family functions, and its ideas have a true power to stick with you and linger long afterwards. But then ... sharks. This is a great play.

    ”
  • Premiere Stages: GREAT WHITE by Deborah Yarchun
    “

    Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize Great White by Deborah Yarchun as a Semi-Finalist for the 2024 Premiere Play Festival. Great White rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 48 Semi-Finalists out of 760 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed how Great White is a gripping, visceral play about mental health, difficult family relationships, and climate change that earns its intense moments. Our congratulations and...

    Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize Great White by Deborah Yarchun as a Semi-Finalist for the 2024 Premiere Play Festival. Great White rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 48 Semi-Finalists out of 760 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed how Great White is a gripping, visceral play about mental health, difficult family relationships, and climate change that earns its intense moments. Our congratulations and thanks to Deborah.

    read more
    ”
View all 11 recommendations

Character Information

  • Brooke
    Gifted, mildly obsessive.
    14
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Ivy
    16
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Gail
    Brooke and Ivy’s mother. Somewhere stuck on the edge of confronting reality and being in denial.
    38
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Luis
    A kind of strange, but brilliant boy.
    15
    Latino
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male

Development History

  • Reading, The Blank Theatre, 2021
  • Reading, Nora's Playhouse, 2019
  • Reading, Capital Stage Company, 2018
  • Reading, Great Plains Theatre Conference, 2016
  • Reading, Workhouse Theatre Company, 2015
  • Reading, Strange Sun Theater, 2015
  • Reading, The Playwrights' Center, 2014

Awards

  • Henley Rose Playwriting Competition, Second Place
    Yellow Rose Productions
    Runner Up
    2018
  • Relentless Award
    American Playwriting Foundation
    Honorable Mention
    2016