The Days Are As Grass

The Days Are as Grass is a full-length performance consisting of eight short plays by Carol Hall. They were written to be performed by two actors, one man and one woman. However, they can also be performed by a larger cast. The actors portray more than a dozen characters ranging in age from 40 to 85, exploring the fragility of hope, memory, old friends, lost loves, and the inevitability of time. The tone is always a blend of the funny and the touching, as the characters march bravely into that last colorful sunset, still fully engaged by life's changes, love's quirks, and the surprises of age.

The short plays are written to be performed as a single evening. They include:

"Vacation" - A married couple enjoying a relaxing weekend, become obsessed with a couple traveling nearby who are clearly having an illicit affair.

"Last Will and Testament" - A well meaning socialite tries to write her will, so that after her death all her friends and loved ones can receive a "small memento," but she finds that "details of your own mortality can be exhausting. And I'm sure death is no picnic either."

"Life Time" - A couple has been together so long they barely need words to express themselves. "Memory loss is the best thing that ever happened to me. Saves time. Saves effort."

"Sensations" - A bickering couple sit in twin rockers in matching robes and slippers and wait for the pills they've secretly saved up to take effect and end their lives - but did they do it correctly? And if not, whose fault is that, anyway?

"The River Jordan Lamp" - A woman living alone in a trailer park makes an unusual connection with a young migrant worker - and eventually sees the light, or the absence of one, as she pays for what she calls her "sin of the flesh."

"Jack and Jill" - A brother and sister in their mid-forties, hilariously try to come to terms with the idea of their divorced parents getting back together after 35 years.

"The Days Are as Grass" (title piece) - A younger man and older woman have an argument about what happened to their affair, while literary quotes still appear to bind them affectionately.

"The Last Word" - A husband chatters away as he pushes the wheelchair of his mute and paralyzed wife, while we are able to hear everything she's thinking.