Dr. Ride's American Beach House

by Liza Birkenmeier

It's 1983, the evening before Dr. Sally Ride's historic space flight. Hundreds of miles from the launch, a group of women with passionate opinions and no opportunities sit on a sweltering St. Louis rooftop watching life pass them by. Their uncharted desires bump up against American norms of sex and power in this intimate snapshot of queer anti-heroines.

Genres: Plays

70 pages, Paperback

Published June 14, 2022

Reviews

[Timur Markowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't wait to read more by this playwright. Such incredible dialogue.

[Jeff Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Ride’s American Beach House was a really enjoyable play to read… short, a little strange in a good way, and full of understated emotion. I liked how it uses a simple rooftop hangout in the early 80s to explore ambition, loneliness, and queer themes. I just wished it were a bit longer so some of those ideas and relationships could go even deeper.

[Chloe Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It doesn’t matter. I go to a psychoanalyst. And no no, I don’t hate men; they only make me homicidal. I’ll be fine.”

[Kate O’Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The rule is to not talk about men on the roof”

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A staged reading I am participating in later this month. Wild script!

[char · Rating 5 out of 5]

probably one of my new favorite plays and i’m meeting the playwright tomorrow!!!!!!

[Gwyneth Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightfully weird play.