Suffering With Joy

Synopsis:

There is a tendency for liberal-minded folk to think that certain battles have been won.  That we’ve moved on, that we’ve progressed, that we’re better now than we once were.

But such battles can never be truly ‘won’.  Laurels can never be rested upon.

In a world in which Creationism is once again being taught in schools, where educated parents are refusing immunization of their children, where the United States is on the verge of rolling back abortion rights to the point of overturning Roe versus Wade, where the Right is weaponizing freedom of speech as a means by which to spread hatred and division, we need to be very much on our mettle.  More than ever before, we need to be prepared to fight the good fight, over and over and over again.

With the advent of the 60s, the introduction of the contraceptive pill, the freeing up of abortion law, the loosening of the grip of censorship and the wider acceptance of gender fluidity, one could be excused for believing that the battle for freedom of sexual expression – the battle against sexual repression and the guilt and trauma that it engenders – had been won.  Long ago.

Alas, this is not the case.  With the rise of the Evangelical Purity Movement, misogynist, backward-looking, patriarchal values are once more asserting themselves, with devastating personal consequences.

The victims are women, and this is one such story.

Character Breakdown:

The play is a 2-hander: 1 female, 1 male

JOY VERGONA – 22 – 26

REVEREND BRIGHAM THOMAS – 44 – 48

Running-time: 80 minutes.

Production History: Not yet produced.

Excerpt available to download for free.