Machihembra

by Sam Heyman

ONE ACT: First, there was a girl named Alex and a boy named Etienne, skipping school for the first time. Then, Etienne made a choice, and they both discovered something neither expected to find. Grappling with this new revelation about herself, Alex is visited by someone, a glimmer of her future, who provides her with some key perspective about what’s to come, and what has already occurred. Can Alex find the...

ONE ACT: First, there was a girl named Alex and a boy named Etienne, skipping school for the first time. Then, Etienne made a choice, and they both discovered something neither expected to find. Grappling with this new revelation about herself, Alex is visited by someone, a glimmer of her future, who provides her with some key perspective about what’s to come, and what has already occurred. Can Alex find the strength of self to face her friends and family and claim her destiny?

Adapted from the short story, "First/Then," by Sam Heyman, published in Hashtag Queer: LGBTQ+ Creative Anthology, Volume 1 (Qommunicate, 2017)

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Machihembra

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  • Mike Byham: Machihembra by Sam Heyman
    “

    Sam Heyman has crafted a beautiful story in "Machihembra" filled with sympathetic characters drawing from real-life experiences. The dialogue is rich and poetic, but it's the love-filled message of acceptance and hope that resonates and lingers. The clever use of a shadow-person for ALEX'S introspective reflection is an effective device. Meaningful and lovely - this one-act should be read by children questioning their identity and even more so by their parents. Excellent work.

    Sam Heyman has crafted a beautiful story in "Machihembra" filled with sympathetic characters drawing from real-life experiences. The dialogue is rich and poetic, but it's the love-filled message of acceptance and hope that resonates and lingers. The clever use of a shadow-person for ALEX'S introspective reflection is an effective device. Meaningful and lovely - this one-act should be read by children questioning their identity and even more so by their parents. Excellent work.

    ”
  • Brent Alles: Machihembra by Sam Heyman
    “

    I was drawn in just by the description of the first two characters and a notion of the narrative. And then, then, more revelations come forward. Heyman's subject made me research further, and with that knowledge in hand, it just deepened my experience with this wonderful one act. I often found myself catching my breath at the beautiful passages that occur. Sometimes just the stage directions! But it's these characters... so, so very human, that truly stick with me after completing the reading. This play is going to stay in my mind and on my heart for a while. Magnificent.

    I was drawn in just by the description of the first two characters and a notion of the narrative. And then, then, more revelations come forward. Heyman's subject made me research further, and with that knowledge in hand, it just deepened my experience with this wonderful one act. I often found myself catching my breath at the beautiful passages that occur. Sometimes just the stage directions! But it's these characters... so, so very human, that truly stick with me after completing the reading. This play is going to stay in my mind and on my heart for a while. Magnificent.

    ”
  • Samuel Langellier: Machihembra by Sam Heyman
    “

    Heyman's poignant one act can appear in part as magical realism, with a reflection showing and speaking directly of the unbound future, but more expressively proves the magic already in the realistic that can so often be cooped up in western heteronormatives.

    There is no one path in coming of age, and the explosive exploration of that potential and the underlying fears and hopes contained within stare back both at Alex and the audience. When it's your own face staring back at you from the beyond, the you that you could be, it may be worth the plunge.

    Heyman's poignant one act can appear in part as magical realism, with a reflection showing and speaking directly of the unbound future, but more expressively proves the magic already in the realistic that can so often be cooped up in western heteronormatives.

    There is no one path in coming of age, and the explosive exploration of that potential and the underlying fears and hopes contained within stare back both at Alex and the audience. When it's your own face staring back at you from the beyond, the you that you could be, it may be worth the plunge.

    ”
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