DENIM DOVES
full-length play
by Adrienne Dawes
Music by Erik Secrest
Lyrics by Cyndi Williams
created with Salvage Vanguard Theater
9F, 2M, 1 gender-fluid
“You are safe here, Sister.”
Tucked safely into the woods of what was once Belle, MO, a modest compound is home to five sister wives and their reluctant Husband. While the wives enjoy many freedoms, they have one simple and sacred task: a wife must produce the next heir, or they all risk being cut from the braid.
When a new wife mysteriously arrives the night of the Seedling, she disrupts their semi-annual procreation ritual. Will this new wife's radical ideas, ancient riot grrl songs, and acid wash denim compromise the safety and sanctity of this devout compound?
Set in a dystopian future, Denim Doves is a collaboratively-devised feminist farce that explores themes of women in subjugation and the terrifying consequences of a rigid dick-tatorship.
PRODUCTION HISTORY:
- 2019 - American Theatre Company (Tulsa, OK)
- 2018 - Sacred Fools Theatre Company (Los Angeles, CA)
- 2016 - Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, TX), WORLD PREMIERE
“Denim Doves” is included in Steppenwolf Theatre’s list of new and under-produced plays that feature marginalized characters at their center.
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:
2015 - Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, TX), workshop
2014 - Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, TX), workshop
2013 - Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, TX), workshop
AWARDS/HONORS:
2015 - Osage Arts Community (Belle, MO), residency
2015 - ScriptWorks Seed Support Grant
PRESS
Review: DENIM DOVES at American Theatre Company - Broadway WorldTulsa
Interview with LAFPI
"Denim Doves” at Sacred Fools - Paul Myrvold's Theatre Note
“Denim Doves” finds girl power in religious polygamous family’s bunker - Austin American Statesman
Salvage Vanguard Theater's Denim Doves- Austin Chronicle
Review: DENIM DOVES – A Deliriously Silly Bawdy Romp- BroadwayWorldAustin
‘Denim Doves’ is a fierce and funny feminist farce- AustinArtsWatch
SONG SAMPLES:
“A masterpiece of modern political theatre . . . as absurd as Denim Doves may feel at times, it’s ultimately a genuine blending of serious speculation and effervescent imagination.”
“A scrumptious, in-your-face satire that might make its ancestors, Beyond the Fringe and Monty Python, green with envy. Denim Doves is spiced with rudeness and a fearless use of language, all powered by an extraordinarily dedicated cast of players who, under the demanding direction of Rosie Glen-Lambert, throw caution to the wind, playing with balls-to-the-wall foolhardiness in a damn-the-torpedoes, swing-for-the-fences dedication”
“Mix the first episode of “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” with 1970s science fiction films “Zardoz and The Apple,” add in a dash of Judd Apatow humor, and you’ve got “Denim Doves,” a new collaboratively devised theater piece written by Adrienne Dawes and created with Salvage Vanguard Theater . . . “Denim Doves” is ultimately a feminist statement about the hidden power and strength of women in even the most absurd and desultory of circumstances.”
“The brazenness with which sex and menstruation are treated in the production is actually refreshing . . . it’s nice to know that I’m not the only woman who’s ever read a work of imaginative or dystopian fiction and wondered how a girl’s period is supposed to fit into all that.”
“DENIM DOVES plays like a modern-day version of a Greek comedy by Aristophanes. It’s a deliriously silly bawdy romp that explores woman subjugated under a “dick-tatorship.” ”
“With ‘Denim Doves’, Adrienne Dawes has created a strong feminist statement, while also delivering solid entertainment. It never feels preachy, even provides some of the biggest laughs I’ve had in some time, while still delivering its messages loudly and proudly (after all, it ends with a group women literally gearing up to fight the patriarchy).”