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The Moors
Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, dreaming of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. The Moors is a dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.
87 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2017
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343 people want to read
About the author
Jen Silverman
25 books177 followersJen Silverman is a New York-based writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Her theatre work includes The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre premiere, off-Broadway with The Playwrights Realm, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist); The Roommate (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville Humana world premiere, multiple regional productions including South Coast Rep, SF Playhouse and Williamstown Theatre Festival, upcoming at Steppenwolf); Phoebe In Winter (Off-off Broadway with Clubbed Thumb); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth premiere); and All the Roads Home, a play with songs (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park premiere).
Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.
Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
December 14, 2019
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
4.5 Stars
What do an estate house, a dysfunctional family, a dog searching for more, a catfishing expedition, murder plotting, and a musical number inspired by . . . .
Have in common? Well, that’s all things you’ll find in Jen Silverman’s brilliant play The Moors.
I’ll spare you all the boring details regarding just how I ended up looking for last-minute tickets to a play for my son and I to attend and simply say I needed some last-minute tickets to a play for my son and I to attend. We literally had ONE available evening (yesterday) in which to see said show and not $100 to drop per ticket (and also I hate A Christmas Carol so I would have cried if that was my only option). Miracle of miracles, UMKC was putting on this show – which I knew nothing about. I simply snatched up tickets, told the kid to STFU (in the nicest way possible) and suffer through if it ended up being crap since this was for his class and off we went. And holy crap this play and production were amazing.
As I said before, the play itself was simply brilliant. Dark humor at its best. The cast of only six (along with us attending a performance held in a 40-seat theater) . . . .
(No joke - smaller than a two-car garage.)
Left zero room for error. These students were amazing and turned an evening I’m honest enough to be admit we were pretty much dreading into one we won’t forget. Highly recommend to theater fans who like their comedy with a bit of a murdery edge to it.
4.5 Stars
What do an estate house, a dysfunctional family, a dog searching for more, a catfishing expedition, murder plotting, and a musical number inspired by . . . .
Have in common? Well, that’s all things you’ll find in Jen Silverman’s brilliant play The Moors.
I’ll spare you all the boring details regarding just how I ended up looking for last-minute tickets to a play for my son and I to attend and simply say I needed some last-minute tickets to a play for my son and I to attend. We literally had ONE available evening (yesterday) in which to see said show and not $100 to drop per ticket (and also I hate A Christmas Carol so I would have cried if that was my only option). Miracle of miracles, UMKC was putting on this show – which I knew nothing about. I simply snatched up tickets, told the kid to STFU (in the nicest way possible) and suffer through if it ended up being crap since this was for his class and off we went. And holy crap this play and production were amazing.
As I said before, the play itself was simply brilliant. Dark humor at its best. The cast of only six (along with us attending a performance held in a 40-seat theater) . . . .
(No joke - smaller than a two-car garage.)
Left zero room for error. These students were amazing and turned an evening I’m honest enough to be admit we were pretty much dreading into one we won’t forget. Highly recommend to theater fans who like their comedy with a bit of a murdery edge to it.
June 19, 2024
this is crazy…but awesome?
February 7, 2021
Reading this play, almost a year into covid and and a year without live in-person theatre, made me believe in theatre again. It was simply brilliant.
June 19, 2024
the mastiff and the moor hen scenes were the highlights for me personally
January 23, 2022
What a surreal and entertaining play. The character's arch developed within 84 pages. The encounters with Mastiff and Moon-henn was an outstanding exploration of philosophy and the meaning of relationships. It was at times confusing, extremely witty and overall a great measurement of the human condition and character.
February 18, 2024
A pleasure to be doing dramaturgical work for this play!! So many thoughts.
SUCH a good commentary on the desire for control and omniscience over one’s life. Love the contemporary anachronisms juxtaposed with the very Victorian concepts of “the Gothic” and “the Sublime.”
SUCH a good commentary on the desire for control and omniscience over one’s life. Love the contemporary anachronisms juxtaposed with the very Victorian concepts of “the Gothic” and “the Sublime.”
January 17, 2025
Nothing I love more than becoming weirdly attached to a bird-like character
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March 21, 2025read this in college and directed a scene from it for student directing competition. meeting to discuss with a theatre student tomorrow for their independent study on contemporary female playwrights. just an excellent little play.
January 21, 2025
Oh freeeeeaaaaakkkkyyyyyyy
Making me think! As good writing does!
Making me think! As good writing does!
August 6, 2025
first play i have ever read. completely delightful
November 11, 2025
Oh I’m a fan. I want to see this one. It’s always hard to give a play more than 4 stars without seeing it, but I was very intrigued.
November 21, 2024
literally a new favorite. so so so in love with this play.
June 28, 2023
Beautifully absurd and hilarious.
August 11, 2024
My new favorite playwright.
August 17, 2022
a great satire and a great play in general, really love the lgbtness and the dog x chicken lovers, really excited to be apart of this story
November 10, 2024
so i sgtarted reading this and then stopped because i got bored. i had no intention of finishing this its just a play i heard on reddit was good to ty and learn more about horror theatre plays. my dissertation will be in the genre of horror and thats why im trying to broaden up my horizons and try and read more horror plays.
i was just in the mood to read a play and since i started but never finished this i thought why not. i'm pleasantly surprised by it, i was intrigued. the metaphors for love the undercurrent desire for power and for something to happen. you go crazy up in the moors, what else is there to it? here is a family running on pretence, here is a lady tasked with joining said family. from London she's come and no one will answer her directly, she sees the family the way we do with confusion and a little bit of suspicion until she doesn't. because of course we are the spectators and she is a character and its only a matter of time until she starts to know something we do not. i enjoy that. i like that. i really liked that especially towards the end where it started getting darker and there was this air of something bad was going to happen. the trickery and lies was very nice;y played.
though whether its by design or i just completlly missed it but it would've been nice to know how old the sister was i imagine her to be quite young becuse of how impressioanble it is but i wonder if the entre play starts to change if the sister is played a little bit older and with the air of someone who is just lonely and bored therefore acts like she doesnt understand anything but actually shes very smart and astute. it makes the latter scene even more thrilling in my opinion! i'm glad i ended up reading this again.
i was just in the mood to read a play and since i started but never finished this i thought why not. i'm pleasantly surprised by it, i was intrigued. the metaphors for love the undercurrent desire for power and for something to happen. you go crazy up in the moors, what else is there to it? here is a family running on pretence, here is a lady tasked with joining said family. from London she's come and no one will answer her directly, she sees the family the way we do with confusion and a little bit of suspicion until she doesn't. because of course we are the spectators and she is a character and its only a matter of time until she starts to know something we do not. i enjoy that. i like that. i really liked that especially towards the end where it started getting darker and there was this air of something bad was going to happen. the trickery and lies was very nice;y played.
though whether its by design or i just completlly missed it but it would've been nice to know how old the sister was i imagine her to be quite young becuse of how impressioanble it is but i wonder if the entre play starts to change if the sister is played a little bit older and with the air of someone who is just lonely and bored therefore acts like she doesnt understand anything but actually shes very smart and astute. it makes the latter scene even more thrilling in my opinion! i'm glad i ended up reading this again.
February 2, 2021
I don't know what I was expecting upon reading The Moors, but what occurred was certainly so many things wrapped into one dark genre.
According to the playwright, "The Moors" began with a fascination for the Brontë sisters' letters to one another, all descriptive of the same bleak, unending setting that is almost a character in itself in Silverman's play. The characters dip in and out of comedy and references to Du Maurier, Flowers in the Attic, and any other gothic horror you can think of.
In a time like a pandemic where all the days do indeed feel one after another, the themes of desperation for change and to be seen in this play definitely hit where it hurt most.
According to the playwright, "The Moors" began with a fascination for the Brontë sisters' letters to one another, all descriptive of the same bleak, unending setting that is almost a character in itself in Silverman's play. The characters dip in and out of comedy and references to Du Maurier, Flowers in the Attic, and any other gothic horror you can think of.
In a time like a pandemic where all the days do indeed feel one after another, the themes of desperation for change and to be seen in this play definitely hit where it hurt most.
April 24, 2024
“Everything shall always be different now. And yet nothing changes…” a line from this show and its overall statement. An odd dark comedy about sisters Agatha and Huldey who live in an estate on the moor. Their maid Marjory who plays different servant rolls depending on the hat she wears dreams of being in charge. The sisters await the arrival of a countess Emilie. Agatha wishes to use Emilie to continue the family line so that the family may live forever. A murder plot and a side plot about a mastiff and a moor-hen falling in love later and the show is over. Probably better performed than read but it’s a decent play.
January 14, 2024
just devoured this play in one bewildered sitting. absolutely fantastic and delicious writing, horrifying in the best ways. emilie and agatha were a terrifying and fascinating pair, and the creeping realization of what agatha wanted from her was wonderful.
huldey reminded me of pearl too, which is delightful.
i may get to play the part of the mastiff in two scenes for a friend's directing class, and i am so excited now.
huldey reminded me of pearl too, which is delightful.
i may get to play the part of the mastiff in two scenes for a friend's directing class, and i am so excited now.
December 21, 2022
3.5 stars.
This play was full of some really interesting examinations on philosophy, love, and relationships. It was a very easy and quick read.
That said, for me, this largely felt like a draft rather than a finished product.
This play was full of some really interesting examinations on philosophy, love, and relationships. It was a very easy and quick read.
That said, for me, this largely felt like a draft rather than a finished product.
April 1, 2023
what the dog doin
October 29, 2024
just lesbians doin what lesbians do
October 9, 2024
While this contained some of the bite Silverman's later play, Witch, contained for me, Silverman may have leaned too far into the dark comedy subgenre for my taste when it came to some of her commentary. I liked that her script shows both an appreciation and confusion for the gothic romance subgenre. The nods to the Brontes were well done, plus how the moors as a setting had a say in influencing the characters' decisions and lives were particularly fascinating. I'd say my main problem was the character development feeling a bit rushed when it came to reading the play. This would likely feel better during a live performance, yet some of the shifts felt odd to me. Poor Moor-Hen deserved better than what she got.
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July 5, 2021Facades, existential mastiffs, and bleak moors: pretty, yet dangerous. Disturbingly funny. Victorian-era dynamics and themes manifest in new, unexpected ways, and a bit of their inescapability continues in their legacy. This play is very much not the thing you expect it to be. And poetry from a mastiff? I can say I haven't seen it before!
March 24, 2024
A beautiful play, and yet another piece of work that heavily references the oeuvre of the Bronte sisters, further increasing my desire to read their works. A slightly absurdest play that from the opening line ("Something has to be done.") draws a relationship between itself and Becket's Waiting for Godot. ("Nothing to be done.")
December 24, 2024
Beautifully written dark comedy, with characters that would be quite at home with Jane Eyre and Heathcliff. The love stories between the Mastiff and Moor-Hen and between Agatha and Emilie were touching without being trite. This is a play that I will definitely be revisiting, as there is some wonderful scene work in here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2023
“You might say: birds are lasting, in this world. To which I would reply: it is never the same bird.”
Right up my alley in terms of humor, philosophy, and Brontë references. I’d love to direct this! I thought early on that perhaps Branwell was the Mastiff, and then he wasn’t, but maybe he was?
Right up my alley in terms of humor, philosophy, and Brontë references. I’d love to direct this! I thought early on that perhaps Branwell was the Mastiff, and then he wasn’t, but maybe he was?
August 24, 2017
Contemporary absurdist gothic. Enjoyable for fans of Rebecca and Jane Eyre.
December 7, 2018
A fascinating modern Gothic absurd play. The Mastiff and Moor Hen scenes, though, could have been left out.
January 25, 2019
very interesting work, but sadly i didn't love it non-cerebrally
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews