Swing State

by Rebecca Gilman, Anne E. Thompson (Narrator), Bubba Weiler (Narrator)

First performed at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2022. Recently widowed, Peg tends to the 40 acres of native prairie that rises behind her rural Wisconsin home. Her solitary days are interrupted only by visits from Ryan, a family friend with a checkered past. When her late husband’s footlocker is ransacked in her barn, she places a call to the local authorities—unwittingly setting off a series of events that will forever change their lives.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Plays, Drama, Short Stories

Audible Audio

Published March 21, 2024

Reviews

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short sad and sweet

My only issue is it was tooo short.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Ashley O'shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provoking look at the mental health, opioid epidemics and post incarceration life

[Delia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it is short, it is very well written and performed, especially by the person who played Ryan.

[Xiomara · Rating 4 out of 5]

📄 What Is Swing State?
Form: Swing State is a play (stage drama) written by Rebecca Gilman.
Genre / Tone: It’s a contemporary drama that mixes mystery, personal conflict, and social/environmental themes.

📄 📄 FUN FACT
First performed in 2022 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
Later produced Off-Broadway in 2023 at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

📚 Synopsis / Plot
Here’s the heart of Swing State (spoiler-light):
Main character: Peg, recently widowed, lives on a prairie farmhouse in rural Wisconsin, managing 40 acres of native prairie land.

Ryan: A younger man with a troubled past who was in some way “taken in” by Peg and her late husband. He visits her occasionally; their relationship is complex and full of shared history.

Inciting Event: Peg discovers her late husband’s footlocker (in her barn) has been broken into / ransacked. She reports it to the authorities. This act, seemingly small, sets off a chain of intrusions, secrets, and confrontations.

Conflict & Tension: As more is revealed, the personal tensions between Peg and Ryan, and their relationships to the land, community, and each other, surface. Loyalties shift; trust is tested.

Broader Stakes: The play doesn’t just focus on interpersonal drama; it uses Peg’s prairie land and its fragility as a metaphor for how rural communities and their ways of life are threatened by change, external forces, and environmental pressures.

📌 Key Themes & Motifs
Loss & Grief: Peg is mourning her husband; his presence (or absence) lingers. The broken into footlocker is a symbolic violation of privacy and memory.

Trust & Betrayal: The tension between Peg and Ryan often hinges on what they each believe about each other’s motives and past.

Land, Identity & Legacy: The prairie land is not just property — it’s part of Peg’s identity and heritage. Its deterioration mirrors social and personal decay.

Isolation vs. Connection: Peg lives in solitude; her relationship with Ryan (and the community) forces her to grapple with intimacy, boundaries, and dependency.

Community & Change: The play looks at how outside forces (economic, ecological, political) affect small communities, and how people respond to threats to the status quo.

🌱 Why It Resonates & What Makes It Strong
The play feels very “of its time”, tapping into eco-anxiety, rural decline, and social fractures in modern America. (Critics say it feels like a “post-COVID” American portrait. )
Rebecca Gilman is known for tight character work, moral complexity, and exposing unspoken tensions. Swing State continues that reputation.
The play is deceptively simple in set and action — much of the power comes from what’s not said, and how characters shift subtly.

👉👉I enjoyed this short read. It made me reflect on death, something I often like to meditate on. I hated that one of the characters had to die the way he did, but it felt realistic — he was trying to get better, yet panic hindered his growth and healing. I also disliked the sheriff’s bias against one of the characters, but again, it rang true: bias often clouds people’s view of reality. In this case, she was only half right, missing the full picture. People aren’t simply black and white — we are layered and complex.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swing State by Rebecca Gilman is an Audible Original featuring the original off-Broadway cast of performers: Anne E Thompson, Bubba Weller, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and Mary Beth Fisher. I listened to is a recording of a Chicago Goodman Theater production I missed, but it was very well done.

The play is about a recently widowed Wisconsin woman who opens the play unemotionally contemplating suicide. She and her husband were caring for their 50 acres of land as a return to the prairie, and she plans to will most of the land to a Prairie Restoration organization. I know about the groups because I lived in Madison and had fellow naturalist/prairie restoration friends there. She despairs because of the loss of her husband, and she despairs because of the climate emergency.

The woman also wants to will her house and a couple acres to a young man just released from prison, with addiction problems. She reports to the police that her husband’s tool box and gun are missing, but the cops suspect this guy, as does the supportive woman. A young cop talks to him and gets him to confess, but a zealous sheriff jumps into the fray and the woman has to use her gun. Suddenly everyone seems reasonably suicidal, in a way, but things turn out where everyone gets compassionate support from each other. Key issues are mental health, addiction, grief and the environment. And the need for community in crisis. I thought it was well done.

A second climate change rage/despair-oriented play I listened to right after this one I will review next, a play called Weeds. I liked that one, too. More and more literature finally addressing the needs of the planet Earth.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars:

“Swing State” is an Audible Original featuring the original off-Broadway cast of performers: Anne E Thompson, Bubba Weller, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and Mary Beth Fisher. Playwright Rebecca Gilman penned the play about a widow who takes a wayward young man under her wing. He’s a bit of a trainwreck. He’s been in prison, is rudderless, and in need of human compassion.

When she reports to the police that her dead husband’s toolbox is missing, the overzealous Barney Fife of local Sheriff’s gets involved. It’s a small town; everyone knows everyone’s business. It’s a romp of a story, until it gets serious.

Themes explored are loss, environmental issues, compassion, and addiction and recovery. As with all Audible Originals, the sound effects bring great life to the performances. It’s a short performance, 1 hour and 25 minutes and worth every second of listening time.

[Andrea Mear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I missed Swing State when it was at the Goodman, but luckily Audible did a recording of it and it did not disappoint. This is heartbreaking play about the power of grief and the people that are left behind that have to make sense of a life that is a daily struggle just to exist. This play explores the themes of community and preserving what we can. It was artfully written and acted. It does deal with suicide and can be heavy at times, but the intensity is real and each line is spoken with such conviction and ferocity closing on a hopeful note leaving the listener to focus more on the possibility of what is to come rather than focusing on what is gone. Robert Falls is a genius director on stage and I. The studio!

[Vera Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it until the very end.

*spoiler*

The young cop kills Ryan, but then Peg just seemingly accepts it without any anger or outrage at cops killing her "son" like person. She instantly just feels sorry for the young cop and hopes she doesn't hold it against herself.

So a brand new cop kills her "son" having a mental health crisis, and the "mom" is just cool with it?

The rest of it, the mental health view, loss, opioids, incarceration as punishment instead of rehabilitation is worth the read.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oof. This story was sad and it was really good. Traversing the ocean of grief and loss and balancing it with trust and understanding, this was a story with a heavy heart. It says something when you do not like certain characters as they are introduced and then you grow to have a vested interest in their well-being. No matter how that looks.

[Melody Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This covers many concerns and topics of today. Heavy topics of mental health, addiction, environmental struggles, differences in political and ethical opinions. I think short stories like this are good if done well, and it is done well. No more needs to be written on the story. It served its purpose.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not what I expected. I thought it would be a political or environmental drama. It was more about grief and loneliness in a small town. Cast was stellar, but wasn't much of a story, more like an episode of a TV show that is already in progress. No setup just in and try to figure out what is going on. Depressing and sad. Sorry I bothered.

[Simi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the title, I thought this would be a political story, but it was actually a small-town drama about loss and moving on from grief following the pandemic and difficult decisions. Although brief, it was very well performed and I easily connected with all the characters and their circumstances.

[Sheila Dailie · Rating 3 out of 5]

40 acres of prairie tended by a widowed woman who lives a solitary life, in a small community. When her husband's old tools are stolen, the sheriff and new deputy get involved, and then events happen that forever change their lives.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful agonizing story that brings to light individual struggles with mental health, addiction, and reintegration after incarnation. I wish it was longer, however, the characters were well-developed.

[Juan Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

In life, things don't happen the way we expect them to. We must always be prepared to accept new challenges, surprises; bad and good.

In this book, the inheritance was prepared and perfect, but the game changed completely at the end, because the heir….

Entertaining..

[Lu Malbran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fully surprised me. I got the audiobook as a way to pass time, expecting to not really care about it. In a little more than an hour I ended up feeling a wider variety of feelings than I expected. Incredible cast.

[Melissa ~ Missy (FrayedBooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this on stage twice when it was at the Minetta Lane Theatre in NYC and it's so powerful in person - the audio does a great job of emulating those feelings.

A relevant and timely story about the pandemic, mental health, and politics among others.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ericka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping, gut-wrenching listen. So full of emotions. Life nugget, "Don't give up. Can't stop trying." There is a purpose in life....

[Loriballington · Rating 1 out of 5]

Premise of book is good but it was hard to get through even though it was short because of the stupid propaganda about recent events. Stupid waste of time.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The voice actors in the audiobook nailed the performance.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing work with terrific dramatization acting.
Free on Audible right now - apparently a play.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Very sad. Short and not so sweet.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has nothing to b do v with politics. So so sad. Kinda of wished I hadn't listened.

[Sonja Coull · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick listen on audible. Fast paced, and a compelling story of a woman who takes in a young man who doesn’t quite want anyone’s help.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was dark AF.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the story this told in such a short time. Good cast. IDK why it's called Swing State tbh

[Katie Wages · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t expect that but rating four stars for thought provoking and making me feel.