Big Black Sunhats

Forty years ago, Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn last waved goodbye to their husbands (Owen, Percy, and Hugo), as the men embarked on a perilous journey. It’s now forty years later, and the women, now all nearly 70 years old, receive a phone call. It turns out, their husbands aren’t dead after all. The men are coming home. They come bearing tales, talismans, and a dangerous proposition: youth. Oh, and the men haven...

Forty years ago, Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn last waved goodbye to their husbands (Owen, Percy, and Hugo), as the men embarked on a perilous journey. It’s now forty years later, and the women, now all nearly 70 years old, receive a phone call. It turns out, their husbands aren’t dead after all. The men are coming home. They come bearing tales, talismans, and a dangerous proposition: youth. Oh, and the men haven’t aged a day since they left. BIG, BLACK SUNHATS is a play that explores time — how we pass it, the stories that live outside of it, and what we do when it’s handed to us in new ways. It’s a play that asks questions about youth, marriage, waiting, and womanhood.

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Big Black Sunhats

Recommended by

  • Kate Busselle: Big Black Sunhats

    This play is so surprising in concept and execution. I can anticipate this play having a thriving life through semi-pro and community theatre spaces with featured roles for older women and scrappy, strapping (old? young? both?) men. You could practically taste the sea air, the burnt roast potatoes, and feel the sand between your toes right along with the characters. A wonderful play!

    This play is so surprising in concept and execution. I can anticipate this play having a thriving life through semi-pro and community theatre spaces with featured roles for older women and scrappy, strapping (old? young? both?) men. You could practically taste the sea air, the burnt roast potatoes, and feel the sand between your toes right along with the characters. A wonderful play!

  • Rachael Carnes: Big Black Sunhats

    I was lucky enough to see a staged reading of this play at the Great Plains Theatre Conference and I’m dazzled by Weiss’s dexterous exploration of grief, regret, love, loss and the river of comfort and comedy that can carry us through. With rich characterization, a uniquely theatrical setting and set-up, this play draws us in and lets us see ourselves with more clarity and compassion.

    I was lucky enough to see a staged reading of this play at the Great Plains Theatre Conference and I’m dazzled by Weiss’s dexterous exploration of grief, regret, love, loss and the river of comfort and comedy that can carry us through. With rich characterization, a uniquely theatrical setting and set-up, this play draws us in and lets us see ourselves with more clarity and compassion.

  • Maria I. Arreola: Big Black Sunhats

    Such a fun, laugh-inducing play with a premise unlike any other. It begins with Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn getting a call letting them know that their husbands (the ones that disappeared forty years ago) are alive and well and also still very much the age they were when they disappeared. And these men have returned with a certain elixir and a proposal.

    I was so invested in what Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn would decide to do. The choice they made, it felt just right.

    Such a fun, laugh-inducing play with a premise unlike any other. It begins with Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn getting a call letting them know that their husbands (the ones that disappeared forty years ago) are alive and well and also still very much the age they were when they disappeared. And these men have returned with a certain elixir and a proposal.

    I was so invested in what Penelope, Bobbi, and Evelyn would decide to do. The choice they made, it felt just right.

View all 4 recommendations
3W, 3M

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Great Plains Theatre Commons New Play Conference, Year 2023
  • Type Reading, Organization The O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Year 2022

Awards

  • Biennial Commission
    Clubbed Thumb
    Finalist
    2020