Raccoon Play
Six young, queer conservatives run the Danville, OH Lions Club and the Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner, the largest fundraiser in the town. However, this year’s Dinner is on the chopping block. An Alex Jones type figure warns that the Lions Club is in trouble. At every turn, their paranoia is seemingly justified: stolen money, failed leadership, lies, scams by a local minister, and their missing member has been missing because he won the Million Dollar “Jab Lottery,” taking the money for himself. Meanwhile, the Danville Raccoons Club faces a potential Insurrection following some dubious election results. After catching heat for sacrificing numerous raccoon children, they must also find the mole amongst them.
Read the current draft of the play here.
Raccoon Play is currently a semifinalist for the 2024 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
The Workshop Premiere of Raccoon Play played at The Tank from August 12-14, 2022, including two sold-out performances. The cast featured Anne-Marie Pietersma, Daniel Kunkel, Henri Sudy, Zoe Nebraska Feldman, Abby Messina, and Madeleine Norton. The workshop featured Intimacy Direction by Zoe Nebraska Feldman, Fight Direction by Daniel Kunkel, stage management by Gracie Greggains, and voiceovers from Kayla Zanakis. Check out the program for this workshop production here. Read reviews of the 2022 Workshop Production here.
Raccoon Play was selected for development through the 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship.
A staged reading of Raccoon Play was held during Philly Theatre Week on April 1 & 2, 2023, at the Hamilton Family Arts Center at The Arden Theatre. Directed by Nick Hatcher, the cast featured Zoe Nebraska Feldman, Sheridan Merrick, Anne-Marie Pietersma, Stephen Perkins, Abby Messina, Mary Callahan, & River von Waldron. The reading was produced by Monti Cerabino & Taj Rauch.
Raccoon Play was a semifinalist for the 2023 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. SMJ was in residence with New York Stage and Film from July 25 - August 2, 2023, to develop Raccoon Play.
An equity reading of Raccoon Play was presented by the Dramatists Guild Foundation on September 18, 2023. The reading was directed by Martavius Parrish. The cast featured Taylor Trensch, Marina Shay, Holly Gould, Kayli Carter, Ema Zivkovic, and Meghan McLeod.
An excerpt of Raccoon Play was presented by the Dramatists Guild Foundation during the Fellows Showcase on November 20, 2023, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The evening was directed by Candis C. Jones. The cast included Taylor Trensch, Marina Shay, Holly Gould, Kayli Carter, & Meghan McLeod.
“Untitled Raccoon Play is a satirical glimpse into queer conservatism, anti-vax ideals and alt-right ideologies in the face of a pandemic. ... Untitled Raccoon Play is memorable, timely and immensely funny.”
“Untitled Raccoon Play is a strong piece that discusses the dangers of the conservative movement and the nefarious nature of what lies below the adult adolescents parroting what they watched on Fox News.”
“I for one will be in the front row when this piece re-emerges again. ”
DGF Fellows Presentation, November 2023
Workshop at The Tank, August 2022
Sizzle Reel of the 2022 Workshop Production