GEN

by Mak Shealy

Synopsis:
GEN ​is a play that follows the lineage through the women+ of a family on ​St. Helena Island in South Carolina.​ Years swirl around everyone who enters this house as they navigate embedded fears, white fragility, the performance of “southern” women+hood and the ignorance with which we often follow our ancestors into the dark. This is a play about family (chosen or blood), about the ties that bind, and...

Synopsis:
GEN ​is a play that follows the lineage through the women+ of a family on ​St. Helena Island in South Carolina.​ Years swirl around everyone who enters this house as they navigate embedded fears, white fragility, the performance of “southern” women+hood and the ignorance with which we often follow our ancestors into the dark. This is a play about family (chosen or blood), about the ties that bind, and what lengths we will go to in order to keep them intact -- or precisely what it takes to sever them for good.

On the genre:
Horror is a necessary mirror. This play should be as terrifying as real life. I loved the quote I read recently while scrolling through Dread Central: “Horror finds those deep, primal fears that fester inside us and brings them to the surface, where we can face them, examine them, and ultimately release them.”

On the soundscape:
Please play with altering frequencies, particularly if this is set in an immersive space. Run the gamut between the 3 generations when choosing pre & post-show music.

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GEN

Recommended by

  • Matt Minnicino: GEN by Mak Shealy
    “

    Mak's plays are like trees, with the playwright as an ingenious gardener-slash-ecologist, wary of both the depth of the roots into an ancient soil and the height of the branches, while also caring for each individual leaf. This play is rife with poetry, detail, vibrant texture and haunting, melodic themes of generational abuse and the power of wounds to stitch us together or pull us apart and into our own elliptical worlds. Every family story is a ghost story and Mak realizes that exquisitely onstage.

    Mak's plays are like trees, with the playwright as an ingenious gardener-slash-ecologist, wary of both the depth of the roots into an ancient soil and the height of the branches, while also caring for each individual leaf. This play is rife with poetry, detail, vibrant texture and haunting, melodic themes of generational abuse and the power of wounds to stitch us together or pull us apart and into our own elliptical worlds. Every family story is a ghost story and Mak realizes that exquisitely onstage.

    ”
  • Jan Rosenberg: GEN by Mak Shealy
    “

    I am so excited, speechless, terrified, and euphoric after reading this play. Makaela is an ingenius poet and storyteller and when she invites horror into her storytelling? LOOK OUT. A play about a haunted house, a haunted family, revenge, and chosen family. Absolutely blown away!

    I am so excited, speechless, terrified, and euphoric after reading this play. Makaela is an ingenius poet and storyteller and when she invites horror into her storytelling? LOOK OUT. A play about a haunted house, a haunted family, revenge, and chosen family. Absolutely blown away!

    ”
  • Shaun Leisher: GEN by Mak Shealy
    “

    This is one I definitely can't wait to see onstage. Shealy’s world-building here is great and the use of horror tropes is so creative. This is what horror theatre should be. This is what horror on film can do so well that theatre often can't achieve. It's not campy or cheesy. It's a genuinely scary play that says so much about trama that passes through generations. SOMEONE PLEASE PRODUCE THIS PLAY!!!

    This is one I definitely can't wait to see onstage. Shealy’s world-building here is great and the use of horror tropes is so creative. This is what horror theatre should be. This is what horror on film can do so well that theatre often can't achieve. It's not campy or cheesy. It's a genuinely scary play that says so much about trama that passes through generations. SOMEONE PLEASE PRODUCE THIS PLAY!!!

    ”
View all 4 recommendations

Character Information

In regard to the casting note, “White Passing,” may include anyone with light skin who would be considered to benefit from White Privilege.
Please cast diversely (in regard to race, ethnicity, gender expression & sexual orientation) and be conscious about the implications of your casting.
Getting stuck at a friend’s creepy fucking house in the middle of an island could happen to anyone. I have been specific here in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual expression, gender presentation and character traits in order to inform the actors of how characters are presented in this piece so that they can best determine their comfort level preparing such a person.
  • Silvy
    Put together, in control.
    Can play 17
    Afro Latina/ Indigenous Latina
    Any female/femme-identifying
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Carter
    Spiritual, remembers things in spurts, kindof hates his older brothers and is very scared of the dark.
    Can play 17
    Any
    Any
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male,
      Non-binary
  • Lori
    A little bit magic.
    Can play 17
    African / African American / Black
    Non-binary
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Non-binary
  • Ivy
    In flux & ok with that.
    Can play 17
    Biracial – Black & White
    Any
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary
  • Adult Track (Adult Riv, Lorianne's Grandmother, Riv's Grandmother, Riv's Mother)
    Family values / tradition is everything to her. She (and all of the characters in this Generational Track) is (are) blinded by survival, immune to change and scared to death.

    It is up to director / theatre's discretion on how you choose to cast these roles. They can be combined, split apart, any format will work. If you choose to have each generation represented by a different actor, please utilize these actors to create extra creepy moments throughout the play.
    Can play 40-65
    Caucasian or White Passing
    Cis-Gender Presenting,
    Femme-presenting
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Doctor Buzzard / Stephen
    Practical. Attached to and aware of reality.
    18-30
    African / African American / Black
    Any gender
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male,
      Non-binary
  • George
    Motivated, intelligent, the oldest of the group (Senior in High School & Valedictorian).
    Can play 18
    African / African American / Black
    any masculine identifying person
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Lorianne / Young Riv
    Insecure. Feels out of control in pressure-filled situations.
    Can play 17
    Caucasian or White Passing
    Any female/femme-identifying
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Andi
    Loyal. The voice of reason. The youngest in the group.
    Can play 16
    Any
    Any
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female,
      Non-binary

Development History

  • Commission, Kervigo Ensemble Theatre, 2020
  • Workshop, Kervigo Ensemble Theatre, 2020