When We Were Young and Unafraid

by Sarah Treem

THE STORY: In the early 1970s, before Roe v. Wade, before the Violence Against Women Act, Agnes has turned her quiet bed and breakfast into one of the few spots where victims of domestic violence can seek refuge. But to Agnes’s dismay, her latest runaway, Mary Anne, is beginning to influence Agnes’s college-bound daughter Penny. As the drums of a feminist revolution grow louder outside of Agnes’s tiny world, Agnes is forced to confront her own presumptions about the women she’s spent her life trying to help.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, LGBT, Drama

66 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Hanako · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful play! lots of interesting characters with complex dynamics. the ending felt totally right and none of the characters choices felt completely out of pocket, but they were still hard to predict which kept it engaging. i thought the characters hannah and paul were maybe a little extreme (particularly hannah) and even penny a little bit, but agnes and mary anne (the leads) are so well developed and just likable enough.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I am, happily, free of that patriarchal oppression and do not need to attend some sort of bastardized summer solstice ritual, where I am paraded around like a sheep, in order to absolve myself for having a vagina.” has to be my favorite way of telling your mom you don’t wanna go to the prom i’ve ever heard

[Pebreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ so good. Like wow.

[Alex Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

mmmk

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite its set-up, "When We Were Young..." is less about domestic violence, and more about women's capacity for love and grief.

Through four characters, all from different decades, we are shown how women's options have and haven't changed, the choices made in the face of those limitations and possibilities, and how terrifying change can be, even if the risk pales in comparison to the potential benefit.

The context of this story is imperative. The year is 1972, pre-Roe v Wade, pre Title IX, pre-sexual harassment laws, etc. And the characters: their ages represent women's experiences specific to those decades. Agnes, in her early 50's, serves as a sage to the mid-20's Mary Ann, who has sought harbor at Agnes' B&B, while also appearing wary and world-weary to the more idealistic 30-something Hannah. Her insistence that teenage Penny focus on her grades/studies/accomplishments rather than social status and/or (gasp) boys is grounded in her own history, least of which is that she was a young adult during World War II, and witnessed women achieve some measure of occupational and financial independence only to have it ripped away and be forced back into the constrictive role of wife and mother.

I mention all of this not just because it's crucial to the story, but also as a warning to future productions not to screw this up, as one white male director recently did by lowering Agnes' age considerably. He also 'aged' Paul, the songwriter who falls for Mary Ann, turning their romance into something potentially predatory and icky.

So, if you can manage to stay true to the playwright's vision, "When We were Young and Unafraid" is a fantastic script for black box and community theaters due to its small cast, and simple, single setting. Consider pairing with a domestic violence shelter or other social service organization for maximum community impact.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This play read like a novel. I love Sarah Treem's writing style and how she develops these characters over such a short but meaningful time.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world has rarely been a truly safe place for women. And what a wonderful example this play is of a pre Roe v. Wade world and it's connection to today's social climate. Sarah Treem manages to create a play full of richly fleshed out characters, largely female, who are all just trying to get by. Whether it's a young teenage woman just exploring first love, a harborer of battered women trying to manage day to day life and hurting runaways, a runaway wife seeking shelter while struggling with what running away means, or a rogue handiwoman out to live her best life, Treem's characters all bring a different viewpoint to this situation. She beautifully demonstrates why women struggle to leave their abusers and how that abuse pattern can be transferred to other, less obvious, abuses. She shows us how complicated mother/daughter relationships can be and how the follies of youth can alter our outlooks on life. And she does it all gently but firmly. I am in love with the witty dialogue and sharp social commentary. This play may take place in the past but it shows us how little things truly change. I highly recommend this as both a strong feminist statement and as a beautiful character commentary.

[Ashton E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Penny’s character and also the idea of following a safe house for women and tracking Agne’s motivations behind beginning that but the moral being women should look out for women. What I did not appreciate as much is the view that women empowerment has to overlap with same sex attraction which is the way it seemed at the end, but maybe that was not her intention at all it just read that way to me.

[REDPANDA COM]

uuu mocny mocny content
no nie powiem ze brak aborcji to plot twist byl!
wogole duzo plot twistow
serio duzo, dobre to bylo

ALE OKEJ najwiekszy to z tym blowjob no ej what the helly
i jak niby na scenie to zrobili
ale dobra tak poza niektorymi mocno groteskowymi elementami bardzo bardzo fajne i porusza kontrowersyjne tematy i to z historycznym

duzo roznych historii i problemow, kazdy ma inne, kazdy jest na innym etapie- bardzi mi sie podobalo

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wash of characters I didn't like or want to root for. They also seem like caricatures rather than people, which I think hurts the narrative because there doesn't seem to be any point to it other than very blatantly showing the difficulties faced by women. This play seems to lack nuance and I didn't enjoy reading it.

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Play discussion group script #7)

[ava g · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this hoping it'd be a good forensics duo piece, and it didn't work out...honestly I don't remember much from it, didn't really make too much of an impact on me.

[Maeve Kuhn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was assigned a scene from this for my acting class. It’s an interesting script but something just didn’t click for me

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Courtney :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

this play hurts

[Bridget Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

So powerful, such human characters with such human circumstances.

[Michael Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

That line about roe v. wade really hit me in the gut

[Rachael Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read 🧡

[Katy Shafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun play! Loved the characters and the plot

[Sophia Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I know they seem so special … and when they choose you, it makes you feel … but it’s a trick. They don’t see you. They’re just looking for reflections of themselves in your eyes”

January play 1/3

[Kate Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5

I liked this play better than the last one I read for my monologue research. The characters were all distinct and interacted in a realistic way, so it was easy to read without getting too lost. I was able to predict where things were headed a lot of the time, but overall, I liked it! Lots of female representation.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Treem's earlier play 'The How and the Why', but this just seems like a giant step backwards. Where 'How' was subtle and character driven, this is just polemical and shrill. Plus, it is set in 1972 (about a dozen years before Treem was even born) and none of it comes across remotely realistic.

[Laurel Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic little drama that looks closely at women in the 70s, dealing with issues that sadly have not completely gone away. I would love to see this on stage.