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Five Women Wearing the Same Dress
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.
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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395 people want to read
About the author
Alan Ball
89 books55 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
April 15, 2015
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.
September 17, 2015
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
On the "pro" side, here is a comedy with a 90% female cast.
3/5
June 9, 2012
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.
August 26, 2011
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
June 24, 2013
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.
February 13, 2014
Enjoyable, true, intense, funny and ultimately unresolved, just like life.
March 16, 2014
Crass, funny, and poignant. Just finished performing this show to great reviews. Love it!
May 31, 2024
Not the greatest idea to write a play as a man about a group of woman.
September 15, 2024
super fun!! would love to be in this one day!
January 28, 2023
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.
January 21, 2016
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.
August 7, 2011
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.
February 8, 2013
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 !
March 5, 2016
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
January 15, 2015
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.
August 23, 2007
it's been a while, but how can you go wrong with Alan Ball?
October 13, 2008
The next show I am designing. Therefore I reserve my opinion until after I am told what the vision of the show is.
May 22, 2012
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.
January 24, 2013
First full length play I ever directed!
June 19, 2013
Disappointing compared to his one-act plays.
November 4, 2013
This play, which we'll read this month for Readers' Theatre, was amusing and fun, but I wouldn't give it a rave.
October 14, 2014
Alan Ball's play is PHENOMENAL.
February 4, 2015
One of my favorite plays and the best experience I've had on stage in a long time.
February 6, 2015
Another variation on The Big Chill/Fifth of July. It should be its own genre in contemporary theatre. Funny and interesting but not substantive.
February 10, 2015
GBCT: Too much language, sex, drug use, religion to be appropriate.
Not my cup of tea at all.
Not my cup of tea at all.
June 9, 2015
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.
September 15, 2015
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.
August 17, 2015
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.
July 30, 2015
This play had me laughing the whole way through... can't wait to audition for it in the fall!
November 11, 2015
A simple and fulfilling play.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews