Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean

by Ed Graczyk

Drama / 1 male, 8 female Interior In a small town dime store in West Texas, the "Disciples of James Dean" gather for their twentieth reunion. Now middle-aged women, they were teenagers when Dean filmed Giant two decades ago in nearby Marfa. One of them, an extra in the film, has a child whom she says was conceived with Dean during the shoot. The ladies' congenial reminiscences mingle with flash backs to their youth; then the arrival of a stunning but familiar stranger se

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction, School, Queer

104 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1982

Reviews

[Jim]

A really well-written play if you can get through Act 1. Lots of laughs, surprises and impressive character moments in Act 2, but Act 1 was really tedious. There are obvious plot threads which look like weak red herrings, but there are some genuine surprises throughout that really shocked me a lot more than I expected. I'd recommend a read.

[Liz]

SPOILERS

It's confusing to read on paper, maybe it's better when you actually see it. Don't like the ending, you have all this drama, all this pent up stuff from the past and then it's like, "Oh well, that's over, we all love each other!"

[Brian McCann]

Sure it’s a soap opera, manipulative, and melodramatic.

But it doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

See the Altman film to get a real visual of this play.

[Christopher Madsen]

I read this play as an undergrad and loved it then for the theatrical technique of jumping from one moment in 1975 to another in 1955 and sometimes both moments occuring simultaneously on the stage. I also loved it for its themes.

Reading it now, 25 years later, I realize how far ahead of its time it must have been in 1976 as a LGTBQ+ themed play. Before The Normal Heart or Angels in America, Graczyk was presenting a queer character meeting the world unapologetically and on her own terms. I would love to see a production.

[Natalia Stornello]

So beautiful! I love seeing the younger versions of the characters. They never interact, but it’s so bittersweet to see the comparisons. It’s such a great story with a wonderful sweet ending. I really would love to see this staged!

[Kelsey Burnette]

Good characters and kind of ahead of its time with the trans female Joanna. But such an odd plot.

[Heather Sedlak]

I wanted to like this more than I did. But overall solid play.

[Nata]

Eh - it's a child of it's time. That being said, I did enjoy it. I think it works better as a play than a film.

[Gina Barnett]

good read

[Kaethe]

I'm kind of "eh" but you have to love a play with so many female characters.

[Dave]

Excellent drama set in west Texas. Strong roles for women.

[Greg Wise]

#14.

[Shawn Deal]

A good play whose time has probably come and gone. An early lgbtq play it just doesn’t quite match up to where society is today.

[Brandon]

A play about acceptance of people, change, and reality. Unfortunately, it’s just not that engaging.

[Kailey]

This was confusing, but also entertaining, so I guess I enjoyed it?