Five Women Wearing the Same Dress

by Alan Ball

During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith, the bride's younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent and touching celebration of the women's spirit.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Humor, LGBT, School, College

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Alan Ball is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, producer and occasional actor, who is best known for writing the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film American Beauty, and for creating the HBO original drama series Six Feet Under.

Reviews

[Nicki]

It was completely unforgettable as I read it that it is a man writing the conversations of five women. Trite, superficial dialogue, petty obstacles and one-dimensional characters: I guess "stick to what you know" need not apply to Alan Ball.

[Kyle]

This was a an okay script, a little dated. In the early 90's I could see some of the themes as being relevant, but nowadays, not so much. The edition that I read contained a few word choices that I would want to change if I was producing this play: 1) referring to gay men as "f-gs" just isn't acceptable anymore, and 2) We don't really talk about "catching AIDS" anymore... when we talk about this virus today, we are smart enough to at least refer to it as HIV. I guess this play could be produced set in the 90's, but I don't think that was the author's intention. It was meant to be timeless, which it is not. And so I think that is the biggest obstacle for this script. The jokes, the situations, they feel a little stale.

On the "pro" side, here is a comedy with a 90% female cast.

3/5

[clare e. newton]

a little stupid but fun

[Jay DeVine]

What happens at the wedding, stays at the wedding. This play is a comedy about five disparate bridesmaids at a wedding. It looks at how they feel about the wedding and life in general. Not a bad play, but not a great play either. The dialogue is good, pacing is very good, I actually wanted this to be longer.

[Kristin]

Pretty good. Slightly dated, but I'd be interested in ironing those things out for a production. 5 women, 1 man & could be a fun opportunity to costume design & build 5 copies of The Dress (or a budget challenge to borrow them!) Interesting characters, a few good monologues

[Sheri]

This is a great contemporary play. There are five nice sized female roles, all slightly stereotypical, but weirdly balanced. The play is easy to design set and discusses lots of interesting topics well.

[Andrea]

First full length play I ever directed!

[Sydney Young]

Enjoyable, true, intense, funny and ultimately unresolved, just like life.

[Trent]

Crass, funny, and poignant. Just finished performing this show to great reviews. Love it!

[Emily Heaps]

Not the greatest idea to write a play as a man about a group of woman.

[edie roth]

super fun!! would love to be in this one day!

[Javier Fernandez]

The dialog in this play is unbelievable (not in the good way, but as in phony). Also, vulgarity on its own is not funny to me. It needs wit to be so. Apparently wit has a bad case of stage fright here because it appears only twice in the play. Vulgarity, on the other hand, is on stage the whole time hamming it up. Both times wit appeared it made me chuckle though, so I'll generously give the play one star per chuckle.

[Hope]

A fun, witty play, an early work by the screenwriter of American Beauty and Six Feet Under. Five bridesmaids trying to escape the wedding reception meet in the room of the sister of the bride. Perhaps it's because all of them secretly can't stand bride, or because their old high school flame Tommy Valentine is there flirting left and right, but whatever it is they pour out their hearts with the sensitivity and self-derision typical of Ball's writing. Very enjoyable.

[Cheryl]

Eh, mediocre. Some of the dialogue was humourous in that "hanging out with the gals" kind of way though much of it droned on. Nothing really special to further elaborate on since "Sex & the City" seems to sum it up in a snappier fashion.

[Janina]

Charmante comédie rappelant irrésistiblement des réunions entre copines, style Desperate Housewives. Réparties drôles et émouvantes parfois ! Un bon moment de détente. L'adaptation française par Anny Romand et Yvon Marciano est excellente !

[Tiffany Day]

I liked this. While it's a little dated and it goes to some weird places it never fully explores, (and I really didn't care much for the end), it's an interesting character study with a good balance of laughs and seriousness. 3.5 stars

[Rachel Schieffelbein]

This was a fun play. I was looking for a cutting for my HS speech team, and unfortunately I don't think I will find anything appropriate, but I really enjoyed it anyway. The women have a sharp wit, an the dialogue feels natural. It had it's dark moments, but it was handled well.

[J]

it's been a while, but how can you go wrong with Alan Ball?

[Amy]

The next show I am designing. Therefore I reserve my opinion until after I am told what the vision of the show is.

[Emily]

I like this book cause I played Frances and I was amazing!!! lol I probably would have liked it less if it didn't make me a star.

[Lisamarie]

Disappointing compared to his one-act plays.

[Saundra Brewer]

This play, which we'll read this month for Readers' Theatre, was amusing and fun, but I wouldn't give it a rave.

[Danielle]

Alan Ball's play is PHENOMENAL.

[Cassie]

One of my favorite plays and the best experience I've had on stage in a long time.

[Michael]

Another variation on The Big Chill/Fifth of July. It should be its own genre in contemporary theatre. Funny and interesting but not substantive.

[Jennifer]

GBCT: Too much language, sex, drug use, religion to be appropriate.

Not my cup of tea at all.

[Leonard]

Not nearly as trite or cliche as the title makes it sound. Not entirely sold on the neat and tidy ending, but again, better than I thought it would be.

[Misti]

Some funny moments, but with the language, drug usage, adultery, homosexuality, and negative religious views, it would push our very conservative community theatre audience over the edge.

[Jenn]

Some excellent moments, but rather forgettable as a script. It's likely a live performance would be much better. Still, I prefer it when a play is just as a good of a read as it is a performance.

[J.N. Lewis]

This play had me laughing the whole way through... can't wait to audition for it in the fall!