March 1, 2026 5:00 pm
The heart for this piece started with Melissa’s struggle of feeling torn between her faith and arts communities. She saw the love and light in both of them and was constantly wrestling with the ways in which they hated each other. When she had the idea to write Recess, it felt like the way to express this experience in her favorite medium – theatre.
She started by conducting a series of interviews with 40 Americans from as many racial, cultural, economic, age, geographic, and religious categories as she could. These interviews asked a series of political questions followed by a series of heart/motivation based questions. Her hypothesis (which ended up being true) was that though the political answers would differ greatly, the heart answers would stay consistent. She and Kate then took these interviews as source material to write the following play.
Recess follows a group of 5th graders (played by adults) through a school year. We open with Bird (a human) introducing his idea for a science experiment. His hypothesis states that IF 4 kids are unknowingly brought together for a series of political conversations, THEN they will eventually learn to listen instead of fighting and taking things personally and all the stupid stuff adults do. The idea for this experiment is fueled by his parents – both local politicians – and their debates and lack of listening at home.
The four kids he sets his sights on are Ashley, Sam, Nora, and Phineas. Ashley is bold and energetic, coming from a conservative family and unafraid to let her opinions loose. Sam is her archnemesis, also coming from a conservative family, but with trauma around gun violence that creates conflict in him. Nora is quieter, raised by her liberal grandmother because her mother is a drug addict. Shy Phineas lives with his mom but never stops hoping that his parents will get back together after their recent divorce.
The four kids become friends as the school year wears on, and between a mixture of Bird’s set ups and life’s natural events, the kids have discussions around topics such as the 2024 presidential election, guns in America, LGBTQ+ rights, and abortion. Over the course of the year we see them have successes and failures with listening, empathy, and compassion.
At the end of the play, we flash forward 25 years to the 5th grade graduation of Ashley’s oldest daughter. All 5 original kids (now adults) are in attendance, and we see how their experience in 5th grade shaped them, though they still retain many of the same flaws.
Runtime: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Ages: Ages 13 and Older
Content Advisory: mild violence, mild grief, mild use of weapons, references to abortion, and references to school shootings.
Cowriters Kate Mullis and Melissa Wilson are both East Coast based creatives. Kate has her BFA in Musical Theatre from Western Carolina University. Her recent credits include Assistant Director (13 Suits: A Mother’s Monologues), and Choreographer (My Fair Lady, Footloose). Melissa has her BA in Musical Theatre from Eastern Washington University. Recent credits include Phebe (As You Like It), Ensemble (Food For The Gods), and Susan (Tick, Tick…Boom!).