MONESSEN FALLS

by Greg Burdick

Available for purchase and licensing from Next Stage Press.
https://www.nextstagepress.com/monessen-falls/

(Full Length) Cicadas chatter feverishly outside as a middle-aged architect startlingly awakes from a crippling night-terror. Returning to his childhood home for the first time in seventeen years when his mother dies, Kip must grapple with the ghosts of his past, his hostile and jobless brother who never...

Available for purchase and licensing from Next Stage Press.
https://www.nextstagepress.com/monessen-falls/

(Full Length) Cicadas chatter feverishly outside as a middle-aged architect startlingly awakes from a crippling night-terror. Returning to his childhood home for the first time in seventeen years when his mother dies, Kip must grapple with the ghosts of his past, his hostile and jobless brother who never managed to move out, and the financially crushing debts now left behind by his parents.

Set in an aging, former steel town in southwestern Pennsylvania, Kip is joined by his noticeably younger girlfriend, Phoebe. She has come to assist with the funeral arrangements, but discovers quickly that she’s in for much more than she bargained for. Kip’s brother, Ethan, won’t enter the bedroom where their mother died; and tensions rise when the sanctity of that space is abruptly invaded.

Secrets buried deep are exposed. Old wounds are made fresh. And sibling rivalries scale new heights with potentially frightening consequences. Just as the town of Monessen has found a way to reinvent itself beyond the long-gone glory days of its Steel City heritage, so must two brothers... whose relationship has rusted, after years of neglect.

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MONESSEN FALLS

Recommended by

  • Vivian Lermond: MONESSEN FALLS

    When family life unravels and old dynamics die, what remains? Through the perspective of three distinctly drawn, believable characters, Burdick makes us twist and turn through a mine field of revelations. This is one powerful and captivating family drama!

    When family life unravels and old dynamics die, what remains? Through the perspective of three distinctly drawn, believable characters, Burdick makes us twist and turn through a mine field of revelations. This is one powerful and captivating family drama!

  • Gina Stevensen: MONESSEN FALLS

    A moving contemporary take on the endlessly relevant subject of the family drama. Burdick's characters are pulsing with need, and -- like the deafening hum of the cicadas that richly score the play -- they are all fighting to be heard.

    A moving contemporary take on the endlessly relevant subject of the family drama. Burdick's characters are pulsing with need, and -- like the deafening hum of the cicadas that richly score the play -- they are all fighting to be heard.

  • Cheryl Bear: MONESSEN FALLS

    A powerful look into family trauma and the sibling rivalry that has spun out of control. Well done.

    A powerful look into family trauma and the sibling rivalry that has spun out of control. Well done.

View all 10 recommendations

Character Information

  • KIP
    An architect. Handsome, toned, youthful.
    Character Age
    42
    Character Gender Identity
    Male
  • PHOEBE
    A fitness trainer, stunningly beautiful.
    Character Age
    29
    Character Race/Ethnic Identity
    Greek-American
    Character Gender Identity
    Female
  • ETHAN
    Unemployed, out of shape, unkempt.
    Character Age
    39
    Character Gender Identity
    Male

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization A Work in Progress Theatre, Baltimore, MD. (Eubie Blake Cultural Center), Year 2016

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization Good Luck Macbeth Theatre (Reno, NV) U.S. Premiere, Year 2019

Awards

  • New Works Initiative
    Good Luck Macbeth Theatre (Reno, NV)
    Winner
    2019
  • Playwright of the Month, (October)
    A Work in Progress Theatre, Baltimore, MD
    Winner
    2016