welcome to The Rain or Shine Bookshop, a Black-owned bookstore/cafe in southern Louisiana run by the no-nonsense Jac since the late 60s. Charm and Ellison are the longtime friends (may as well be siblings) who still work there. Charm is a late-20s undergrad student who loves reading at night & Ellison is a major James Baldwin fan who loves dancing at night. both are looking for love, but one may need to leave home to find it. Peanut is a neighborhood youth and amateur birdwatcher who, like, really loves comics. Ivy is the new goth girl from the Midwest who always says exactly what she means. oh, and the bookstore only has a couple of months to find a new location or close its doors forever. this play is about that first real queer relationship, how the past can shape the present, knowing when to fight & when to fold, and the 90s era death of indie bookstores. this play is absolutely about Change but it’s also about Existence. this play could be about you and me.

This play was developed under commission by Soul Repertory Theatre Company through a 2022 TACA (The Arts Community Alliance) New Works grant.