Dry Land

by Ruby Rae Spiegel

Ester is a swimmer trying to stay afloat. Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. DRY LAND is a play about abortion, female friendship, and resiliency, and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody’s left.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama

63 pages, Paperback

First published July 10, 2015

Reviews

[mini iz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m back on Goodreads to tell you that I read this in in my pitch black room in my bed and I’m not sure why I did that because now I’m crying but it was bloody amazing. Punch me

[Madelein · Rating 3 out of 5]

so, do they kiss or not?

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spiegel is clearly a skilled writer - I admire her ability to render naturalistic dialogue. Feels very accurate to how teen girls talk. I wonder whether the offensive language (particularly in reference to people with disabilities) is necessary - I get that she's trying to be realistic and teen girls can certainly be bigoted, but I wonder if it isn't just for shock value / if it serves a larger purpose.

Love plays about intense teen female friendships, and this certainly delivers

Definitely in the same category as "The Wolves," "Dance Nation," and "Our Dear Dead Drug Lord" - plays about the intensity and pain and confusion of girlhood.

How would you stage this? - the multiple actors playing swimmers who appear only for one scene at the end and, of course, the on-stage abortion (which Spiegel writes is supposed to be staged "head-on" with Amy's actress exposed)

[Mila Sumrall · Rating 5 out of 5]

brutal. beautiful. painful.

[Tucker Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually don't write reviews, but seeing the other reviews on here had me stumped. Dry Land doesn't really have a point. It's extremely morbid - in fact, the most morbid thing I've ever read - which would be fine if it served some purpose. The morbidity and the context alongside it ended up coming off like it was only there for shock, and the play doesn't really provoke any thought. There's no discussion within the characters and plot. The events just kind of pan out for the audience to watch. None of those qualities are things that will make or break a play, but when you have subject matter like this play does, having a soul to the script is pretty important. It would've been nice to see some viewpoints in this script. Some internal conflict. Some "should I," or some "will she," or some "what is?"

The script succeeds in having a sense of realism. For all I know, this could be based on a completely true story, and the dialogue is pretty accurate to how these characters should speak at this age. It's also realistic in that all of these events can happen and probably have before, and potentially could continue to happen.

But that's also where it fails. Spoiler alert, but the only thought you might have after walking away from this script is "practice safe sex + abortions should be readily available as healthcare." I guess if you come from a more conservative point of view then this play might be eye opening, but if you're already pro choice, you're not gonna get anything new out of this except maybe some reinforcement for the perspective you already have. There will be no change.

So I'm not the target demographic that the playwright was intending to reach. Understandably that might change how I view the play. There's no law that says every play has to be enjoyed by everyone, but this play didn't really do anything for me and I'm not sure why it would be performed by anyone unless you're performing strictly to an audience of pro-lifers. (Which I guess is the point)

[Nicole Kmiec · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play was very interesting to read. Without reading the stage directions and descriptions first, it would be difficult to understand the perceptions of the characters and how the central conflict unfolds. The play is about two girls on the swim team who may be attracted to one another. In addition, one of these girls, Amy, is trying to abort her baby. Her teammate, Ester, helps her accomplish the abortion while simultaneously acquiring feelings towards Amy. This play reveals the true aspects of abortion and how Amy and Ester deal with them. It shows the uncertainty of sexual orientation as well. I believe this play would be a difficult read due to content for the majority of middle school students, though I do not believe it should be banned.
Major themes: Friendship, abortion, and maturity

[Will Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An INCREDIBLE play!! One of my favorites I have read this semester. A darkly comedic realism piece. Rae Spiegel wrote this in 2014 when she was like 20 and in undergrad at Yale which was just so cool to think about. An important show to do especially today. The plight of a DIY abortion affecting high school girls in this day and age. Unfortunately it is oh so timely. This play brings people in beyond pro-life vs. pro-choice and thus is a very effective piece of political theatre.

[Erin Cleary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking and stunning story. I found the story to be a little dense and it did take me a longer time than usual to read, for a play. The characters are realistic and create a very believable setting and environment. Dramatic scenes, great character studies and hard-hitting story. Would be a great piece to work on with a small cast.

[Morgan Orzeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely a dark read, but also very real? I wish the plot had a little bit more heart to it and we got to explore more of the characters backstories and personalities. I do think the characters are really interesting, I just wish there was a bit more. It has all the ingredients for a really moving play, I just needed additional substance.

[Dana Lau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take of relationships between young women. How do they form relationships between each others and themselves. Does have a graphic abortion scene that may not comfortable for all audiences.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packs a punch (ha-ha); exciting exploration of young teenage woman friendship, fear, love, lust. And an excitingly honest but not trite or melodramatic exploration of abortion.

Slightly sharper than a conventional play; otherwise, just very well made.

[Cassidy Tilden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really cool build. This play does a great job of showing how unlikely relationships can come about and become some of the strongest relationships you may have. A true exploration of making difficult decisions and getting through some major hardships.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...fine? The teenagers' dialogue was natural, the characters were believable, and I appreciated the sympathetic treatment of abortion, but I was left feeling sort of "Huh, that's all?" To borrow a phrase from Tommy Orange, there wasn't much THERE there.

[Alexandra « Sasha » Kozlova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely heartbreaking. Painfully realistic and poignant, touching on many relevant topics for high schoolers. Very complex characters developed in an impressive amount of time. Loved this one.

[maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

so important in the world we are living in right now and really touching.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super good! It was dark and was very realistic about abortion and what it means to have one.

[rach rudolph · Rating 4 out of 5]

read it for acting. very good.

[John Perine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars.

[mj manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, just way more graphic than I thought it was going to be 😭😭😭. Like really really graphic 😭😭😭.

[Grace Whitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

i don’t know… i just, don’t know. dark.

[Lelaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking play about friendships that exist only for a moment, not for forever.

[sam lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

first few scenes are trash. last four scenes are art. idk.

[Kym Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

fuck

[Lizzy Fogg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! I’m auditioning for Ester in two days. I resonate with her, fingers crossed!

[Kira]

Whoa!!! Really struck by this. Powerful imagery and layers of subtext about knowledge, access to information, apathy - oof. Will read 10000 plays about teenage girls.

[edie roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is an INCREDIBLE play!! read it for a callback and please someone let me play ester

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Objective: Abort the baby

[M.K. Scotti]

If Ruby Rae Spiegel hadn’t written this, I would’ve.

[Karis Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

logging so I can meet my goal

[Kylie Keele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE GIRLHOOD heart wrenching as it is