Trash Day
by Andrew Martineau
Aaron Barnes, a widower, lives next door to an interracial couple who do their best to avoid his racist, sexist, and homophobic rants. Aaron seeks help for depression, but he is administered an experimental drug and changes into Erin, a younger African American woman. Vanessa, a transgender Latina, offers Erin advice on how to accept his new identity. Erin meets Tess, a lesbian whom he decides to date. By the end of Erin’s journey, Aaron learns some powerful lessons about acceptance by walking in the shoes of someone very different from himself.
- Cast Size: 4M 3W
- Running Time: 90+ minutes
- Royalty Rate: $75 per performance
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About the Playwright
Andrew Martineau has had productions and staged readings of his work in NYC with Ivy Theatre Company, Love Creek Productions, and DreamCatcher Entertainment. His play “One Fifty” has been produced by Nu Sass Productions in Washington, DC and at University of Miami. His one-act play “Functions” (Green Room Press)has been produced by high school theatres throughout the U.S. and in South Korea. “The Waters of Her Noblest Rivers” was a winner in the Visions/Revisions New Play Festival produced by Anacostia Playhouse in Washington, DC, and had a reading at the Midwest Dramatists Conference in 2018. His one-act play “Etched in Stone” (Green Room Press) won the best script award from the Northern Virginia One-Act Festival and the Watermelon One-Act Festival in St. Mary’s, Maryland. He has two plays published with Smith Scripts (“Visitation” and “The Snow Angel”). Andrew is a member of the Dramatists Guild and teaches English and Humanities courses at a private college in the Washington, DC area.
This is such an amazing and unconventional way to show the disconnect a person with gender dysphoria feels. Andrew Martineau has crafted a brilliant, laugh-out-loud comedy that has something for everyone. You will walk away from it not only entertained but more aware. Well done!
If you were a white, misogynistic, homophobic, racist man in his sixties who woke up one day as a black, possibly lesbian, woman in her thirties, how would you convince people that the “Aaron” on your driver’s license is the same person as the “Erin” standing in front of them? More importantly, would you learn anything from the experience? This delightfully layered play would be an interesting challenge for the two completely different actors having to play the same person. Great concept, great execution.
“Trash Day” gives a new twist to an idea of body exchange, and instead of going for the “who’s that?” confusion, Andrew Martineau does a deft job of exploring what really lies below the surface and how we all need to look beyond race and gender and into our hearts. He has a great cast of characters to work with as well; multidimensional and relatable. And as Aaron/Erin explores his/her inner self, they get to see what makes other people who don’t fit into the narrow mold live their lives as well.
Review Trash Day.