FULL LENGTH: Abby, a precocious emo-goth/AfroLatinx teenager,​ ​orchestrates a​ ​surprise reunion for her​ ​mother Tanya and birth father Tom, with the help of her mom's fiance/healer John. Hoping to provoke long-lasting reconciliation between​ ​her parents before her high school graduation, Abby's plans completely derail when Tom arrives with new girlfriend Alusha. The ensuing fight between Tom and Tanya triggers previous traumas. Can this family confront their past, "deal and heal?"

"Teen Dad" subverts popular regional theatre "kitchen-sink beach house dramedy" to share a heartfelt, comedic exploration of generational trauma and recovery in a mixed race Black and Latinx family.

** 3 roles (Tom, Abby, and Alisha) are specifically written for mixed-race actors. NPX does not currently offer a way to tag roles for mixed-race actors.

FULL LENGTH:

“You are safe here, Sister.”

Tucked safely into the woods of what was once Belle, MO, a modest compound is home to five sister wives and their reluctant Husband. While the wives enjoy many freedoms, they have one simple and sacred task: a wife must produce the next heir, or they all risk being cut from the braid.

When a new wife mysteriously arrives the night of the Seedling, she disrupts their semi-annual procreation ritual. Will this new wife's radical ideas, ancient riot grrl songs, and acid wash denim compromise the safety and sanctity of this devout compound?

Set in a dystopian future, Denim Doves is a collaboratively-devised feminist farce that explores themes of women in subjugation and the hilarious consequences of a rigid dick-tatorship.

Original music by Erik Secrest with lyrics by Cyndi Williams.

PRESS:

"A scrumptious, in-your-face satire that might make its ancestors, Beyond the Fringe and Monty Python, green with envy. Denim Doves is spiced with rudeness and a fearless use of language . . . playing with balls-to-the-wall foolhardiness in a damn-the-torpedoes, swing-for-the-fences dedication." - Paul Myrvold's Theatre Notes

"With 'Denim Doves', Adrienne Dawes has created a strong feminist statement, while also delivering solid entertainment. It never feels preachy, even provides some of the biggest laughs I’ve had in some time, while still delivering its messages loudly and proudly (after all, it ends with a group women literally gearing up to fight the patriarchy)." - Examiner.com

“Mix the first episode of “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” with 1970s science fiction films “Zardoz and The Apple,” add in a dash of Judd Apatow humor, and you’ve got “Denim Doves,” a new collaboratively devised theater piece written by Adrienne Dawes and created with Salvage Vanguard Theater . . . "Denim Doves” is ultimately a feminist statement about the hidden power and strength of women in even the most absurd and desultory of circumstances." - Austin American Statesman

"The brazenness with which sex and menstruation are treated in the production is actually refreshing . . . it's nice to know that I'm not the only woman who's ever read a work of imaginative or dystopian fiction and wondered how a girl's period is supposed to fit into all that." - Austin Chronicle