This Is What The Days Are

On a rural homestead in North Carolina, a group of grievers has formed a smaller, self-sustained world to live and work in. They slaughter pigs, celebrate birthdays, wait for the asparagus to mature. Seasons pass, gardens grow. The asparagus still isn't ready yet. THIS IS WHAT THE DAYS ARE is a new play about the strange task of living as the left-behind.

On a rural homestead in North Carolina, a group of grievers has formed a smaller, self-sustained world to live and work in. They slaughter pigs, celebrate birthdays, wait for the asparagus to mature. Seasons pass, gardens grow. The asparagus still isn't ready yet. THIS IS WHAT THE DAYS ARE is a new play about the strange task of living as the left-behind.

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This Is What The Days Are

Recommended by

  • Sam Mueller: This Is What The Days Are

    A triumph of a play about grief. I find myself particularly moved by the overlapping waves of grief as the play slowly becomes an ensemble piece. We are never told that these people are all various years out from losing their person, but instead we feel it. The mundane becomes truly beautiful and living a life, growing, healing is all pulled apart and looked at through the lens of the seasons so that these characters can merely exist in their ongoing feelings. Stunning. Deliciously paced.

    A triumph of a play about grief. I find myself particularly moved by the overlapping waves of grief as the play slowly becomes an ensemble piece. We are never told that these people are all various years out from losing their person, but instead we feel it. The mundane becomes truly beautiful and living a life, growing, healing is all pulled apart and looked at through the lens of the seasons so that these characters can merely exist in their ongoing feelings. Stunning. Deliciously paced.

  • Jan Rosenberg: This Is What The Days Are

    I'm still thinking about this play a week after seeing a reading, almost like I have the script right in front of me. It's rare that a play feels so present. I love how gentle this play is. I love that it doesn't conform. I love learning a character's grocery store route, and I never thought I'd say that. I love that these people are okay.

    I'm still thinking about this play a week after seeing a reading, almost like I have the script right in front of me. It's rare that a play feels so present. I love how gentle this play is. I love that it doesn't conform. I love learning a character's grocery store route, and I never thought I'd say that. I love that these people are okay.

JJ. Not back to being a person yet. Porous, trying, watchful. Late 20s. Lost her twin brother.

STEF. Grimly hopeful, snarky-sweet. Tough but a little unsettled, still. Late 60s. Lost her wife.

EVA. Hard-edged, wryly funny. Protective of what’s hers. Late 30s. Lost her best friend.

SAM. Grounded, warm, quietly lonely. A farmer, the son of farmers, has always lived in this house. Mid-late 30s.

DENNIS. Eager to help, formal by nature, has a deep capacity for mischief. Early 70s. Lost his husband of many years.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Bedlam (dir. Francesca Sabel), Year 2024
  • Type Workshop, Organization tall poPpy/Atlantic Theater Company (dir. Francesca Sabel), Year 2023

Awards

  • Terrence McNally New Works Incubator
    Rattlestick Theatre & Tom Kirdahy Productions
    Finalist
    2025
  • The Next Forever
    The Civilians & Princeton University’s High Meadows Environmental Institute
    Finalist
    2024
  • L. Arnold Weissberger Award
    Williamstown Theatre Festival
    Finalist
    2025