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Yale Drama Series
Still
The 2013 winner of the DC Horn Foundation/Yale Drama Series Prize
In this darkly comic exploration of loss, intimacy, and motherhood, three women are joined by a baby who never lived. Morgan, in her middle years, is the grieving mother of a stillborn child. Elena, the failed midwife, burdened by guilt, is considering a career change. Dolores, eighteen, is pregnant with a baby she does not want. Meanwhile, Constantinople, the child who wasn’t meant to be, wanders lost in search of his mother, trying to make sense of the world while making an unlikely appearance in each woman’s personal drama.
Poignant, lyrical, ingeniously absurd, and outrageously funny, Jen Silverman’s Still is a brave and remarkable exploration of grief and family. It is the seventh winner of the DC Horn Foundation/Yale Drama Series Prize, selected this year by Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Getting Out; ’night, Mother; and other acclaimed theatrical works.
In this darkly comic exploration of loss, intimacy, and motherhood, three women are joined by a baby who never lived. Morgan, in her middle years, is the grieving mother of a stillborn child. Elena, the failed midwife, burdened by guilt, is considering a career change. Dolores, eighteen, is pregnant with a baby she does not want. Meanwhile, Constantinople, the child who wasn’t meant to be, wanders lost in search of his mother, trying to make sense of the world while making an unlikely appearance in each woman’s personal drama.
Poignant, lyrical, ingeniously absurd, and outrageously funny, Jen Silverman’s Still is a brave and remarkable exploration of grief and family. It is the seventh winner of the DC Horn Foundation/Yale Drama Series Prize, selected this year by Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Getting Out; ’night, Mother; and other acclaimed theatrical works.
- GenresPlays
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 9, 2014
2 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Jen Silverman
25 books178 followersJen Silverman is a New York-based writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Her theatre work includes The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre premiere, off-Broadway with The Playwrights Realm, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist); The Roommate (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville Humana world premiere, multiple regional productions including South Coast Rep, SF Playhouse and Williamstown Theatre Festival, upcoming at Steppenwolf); Phoebe In Winter (Off-off Broadway with Clubbed Thumb); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth premiere); and All the Roads Home, a play with songs (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park premiere).
Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.
Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 17, 2020
fulfilling book riot's 2018 read harder challenge task #15: a one-sitting book
yop, i think this pretty much clinches it - i was not put on this earth to appreciate plays.
i read a couple last year* when their titles piqued my interest at the book factory; The Pitchfork Disney and Knives in Hens, and then another - Written for You, at the request of the playwright himself, and i had the same reaction to all three of them; the sense that i was reading words, but nothing was really sticking, you know?
and then some dude named nick popped onto my thread for The Pitchfork Disney, suggesting i read this play, which his own review praises as One of the most beautiful pieces of literature I've read, a suggestion i remembered on the day i went to work without remembering to pack the book i was reading when scrambling to get ready in the weary-bleary darkness of 3 am (and people - the predawn commute is not one you want to forget your reading material for - it is not the ideal hour to be making eye contact with strangers on the nyfcmta), so i decided to pluck it from the shelf during my break and see if it would engage me.
and it just…didn’t. is it me? is it really just down to the script format? is it the quality of the play itself?
Still doesn’t have a ton of ratings here on goodreads, but those it does have are pretty positive: 9 five-stars, 7 four-stars, 3 three-stars (one of which is mine) and nothing lower than that.
in the world *outside* of goodreads, it won the 2013 DC Horn Foundation/Yale Drama Series Prize, which sounds prestigious, and its synopsis praises it as “darkly comic” as well as “poignant, lyrical, ingeniously absurd…outrageously funny,“ and “brave and remarkable.” which, i know - a publisher praising its own book is about as objective as a parent praising their own child, but a publisher has more veto power over its progeny than a human does, once emerged. it is frowned upon when parents consign their children to the slush pile.
so it’s either me not liking plays or me not liking this play, and i think it really is down to the format. plays just slide right off of me.
i only have 45 books on my “plays” shelf, and to return to the ranking-stat, only 5 of them were given five-stars by me, although there’s also only a single two-star (and no one-stars because i’m not rude).
so i think i’m just medium on plays in general.
scripts are all dialogue, which increases reading pace unless an effort is deliberately made by the reader to regulate it, and i don't, so plays just gliiiiide by my speedy eyes without digging in and it might be why the plays i have enjoyed have mostly been the olde timey shakespeare and greek stuff, where i'm more conscious and mindful of what i'm reading because of the need to take historical context into consideration and the slowing-down effect and poetic gravitas of an antiquated vocabulary and syntax, etc, while the modern drama i’ve read is much snappier, conversational, more weighted towards presenting a situation than the richness of its language. maybe this play/plays in general are better appreciated as performances, although i fell asleep halfway through the last play i went to, so that idea doesn’t work either.
who knows - you’d think that a play in which there is a character named constantinople who is a newborn/stillborn baby played by an adult male actor stage directed to be slippery, as unclothed as possible, unearthly, disturbing, and charming, would be right up my alley, but nope.
and i know i’ve gone and written a “review” that’s more an examination of “why i don’t like plays” than an actual review of *this* play, but sometimes that’s what happens when me and a book completely fail to connect.
but at least it counts towards fulfilling one of my book riot/read harder challenges!
* or “in 2016” because - wow, time flies.
come to my blog!
yop, i think this pretty much clinches it - i was not put on this earth to appreciate plays.
i read a couple last year* when their titles piqued my interest at the book factory; The Pitchfork Disney and Knives in Hens, and then another - Written for You, at the request of the playwright himself, and i had the same reaction to all three of them; the sense that i was reading words, but nothing was really sticking, you know?
and then some dude named nick popped onto my thread for The Pitchfork Disney, suggesting i read this play, which his own review praises as One of the most beautiful pieces of literature I've read, a suggestion i remembered on the day i went to work without remembering to pack the book i was reading when scrambling to get ready in the weary-bleary darkness of 3 am (and people - the predawn commute is not one you want to forget your reading material for - it is not the ideal hour to be making eye contact with strangers on the nyfcmta), so i decided to pluck it from the shelf during my break and see if it would engage me.
and it just…didn’t. is it me? is it really just down to the script format? is it the quality of the play itself?
Still doesn’t have a ton of ratings here on goodreads, but those it does have are pretty positive: 9 five-stars, 7 four-stars, 3 three-stars (one of which is mine) and nothing lower than that.
in the world *outside* of goodreads, it won the 2013 DC Horn Foundation/Yale Drama Series Prize, which sounds prestigious, and its synopsis praises it as “darkly comic” as well as “poignant, lyrical, ingeniously absurd…outrageously funny,“ and “brave and remarkable.” which, i know - a publisher praising its own book is about as objective as a parent praising their own child, but a publisher has more veto power over its progeny than a human does, once emerged. it is frowned upon when parents consign their children to the slush pile.
so it’s either me not liking plays or me not liking this play, and i think it really is down to the format. plays just slide right off of me.
i only have 45 books on my “plays” shelf, and to return to the ranking-stat, only 5 of them were given five-stars by me, although there’s also only a single two-star (and no one-stars because i’m not rude).
so i think i’m just medium on plays in general.
scripts are all dialogue, which increases reading pace unless an effort is deliberately made by the reader to regulate it, and i don't, so plays just gliiiiide by my speedy eyes without digging in and it might be why the plays i have enjoyed have mostly been the olde timey shakespeare and greek stuff, where i'm more conscious and mindful of what i'm reading because of the need to take historical context into consideration and the slowing-down effect and poetic gravitas of an antiquated vocabulary and syntax, etc, while the modern drama i’ve read is much snappier, conversational, more weighted towards presenting a situation than the richness of its language. maybe this play/plays in general are better appreciated as performances, although i fell asleep halfway through the last play i went to, so that idea doesn’t work either.
who knows - you’d think that a play in which there is a character named constantinople who is a newborn/stillborn baby played by an adult male actor stage directed to be slippery, as unclothed as possible, unearthly, disturbing, and charming, would be right up my alley, but nope.
and i know i’ve gone and written a “review” that’s more an examination of “why i don’t like plays” than an actual review of *this* play, but sometimes that’s what happens when me and a book completely fail to connect.
but at least it counts towards fulfilling one of my book riot/read harder challenges!
* or “in 2016” because - wow, time flies.
come to my blog!
October 22, 2019
G-d, how I hated every minute of this. I didn't think much of Silverman's breakthrough play, Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties, and this earlier one fares even worse. She takes a very serious, tragic subject matter (stillborn births) ... and takes a huge, smelly dump all over it. By the time the guilt-ridden failed midwife puts on the outfit of the teenage dominatrix who wants an abortion, and starts fitting nipple clamps to pumpkins, while the stillborn 'baby' played by a tall man in a diaper who keeps going 'Wow!" looks on (I only WISH I were making this up!), well, sorry, you've lost me.
September 30, 2025
5 stars
I think that Jen Silverman is the best playwright of modern times. This is phenomenal. I love Witch. I will sing its praises from the rooftops and until I'm blue in the face. Still is just as fucking good. It's haunting and baffling. Still follows a stillborn baby who is searching for his mother. It's darkly funny, painful, and gutwrenching to be in these characters' lives and see the pain that they carry. The thing I love about Silverman's plays is that humanity is on full display. The humor and comedy of humans who have experienced trauma and will do or say the silliest things to make light of a situation and survive the horror is how most humans cope. This is a play about coping and trying to exist after the most devastating thing occurs: a baby is born with no breath and is still. How does this affect the mother? The baby? The midwife? A dominatrix who is even more at the center of the story than the baby? The beauty of this play is the humor and pain.
I think that Jen Silverman is the best playwright of modern times. This is phenomenal. I love Witch. I will sing its praises from the rooftops and until I'm blue in the face. Still is just as fucking good. It's haunting and baffling. Still follows a stillborn baby who is searching for his mother. It's darkly funny, painful, and gutwrenching to be in these characters' lives and see the pain that they carry. The thing I love about Silverman's plays is that humanity is on full display. The humor and comedy of humans who have experienced trauma and will do or say the silliest things to make light of a situation and survive the horror is how most humans cope. This is a play about coping and trying to exist after the most devastating thing occurs: a baby is born with no breath and is still. How does this affect the mother? The baby? The midwife? A dominatrix who is even more at the center of the story than the baby? The beauty of this play is the humor and pain.
December 20, 2025
5/5 ⭐️
God, this is so incredibly sad, like definitely Jen Silverman’s saddest play by far which I should have expected. Also, it’s so stupidly funny, wtf?!?! I can see how a lot of people wouldn’t like it but I LOVED it.
Anyway, that hurt, it was great! 5 out of 5, would NOT recommend.
God, this is so incredibly sad, like definitely Jen Silverman’s saddest play by far which I should have expected. Also, it’s so stupidly funny, wtf?!?! I can see how a lot of people wouldn’t like it but I LOVED it.
Anyway, that hurt, it was great! 5 out of 5, would NOT recommend.
September 17, 2024
Getting the distinct feeling that Silverman's first novel was based on the fallout of the reception to this play. It's definitely trying to be edgy, with a pregnant dominatrix and portraying a stillborn baby as a fully grown adult man. Definitely interesting to have read!
January 13, 2026
wow! this was like... wow!
but also, like, up there getting wet and here wet.
but also, like, up there getting wet and here wet.
September 10, 2018
I think I went into this with too high expectations because I was rather underwhelmed by it. While I did enjoy the play, its message, and the surrealism, for some reason I wasn't buying into everything. I wasn't into the weird exchange between Morgan and Dolores and thought it was pretty unnecessary. But overall it was a good play that I think would be much better seen onstage than read like this.
September 22, 2020
This is an interesting play about a dark topic. I think the way it goes about it is really well done with the different characters and their parts to play. It took quite a while for me to actually feel for the characters because it starts off so strangely, but by the end I could really understand their situation and felt for them. The way it portrays the grief and trauma of the situation makes you emotional as a reader.
July 22, 2019
Imaginative. Funny. Poignant
This is a wonderful play filled with fleshed out weirdos who entrap us in their journey to make things right. It’s funny and dark in all the right places and deals with a touching subject with no cloying sentimentality. Read it.
This is a wonderful play filled with fleshed out weirdos who entrap us in their journey to make things right. It’s funny and dark in all the right places and deals with a touching subject with no cloying sentimentality. Read it.
January 15, 2026
very good even though i am biased. almost cried in narrative theory. i liked the thing about politeness just expecting politeness back and dolores talking to god and the thing about your heart bending.
August 2, 2018
Read this during Booktubeathon and this was the first book I finished! Review will be posted on my wrap-up soon.
February 22, 2019
Dazzling and ultimately very moving play by one of the most interesting young American playwrights.
March 5, 2023
Constantine the giant stillborn baby is a very good character
April 29, 2023
It was a ride!
December 30, 2024
2.5 - idk man this one was a miss for me
July 22, 2025
???? suck ass
Read
April 17, 2020i read this for uni and currently i'm trying to write a paper about it and well, this play has really grown on me. in the beginning i wasn't sure what to think but now i really like it! it's so weird and even though it's about the saddest thing in the world, it's pretty enjoyable, sometimes even ....fun?
i love how it deals with emotions. it shows that no feeling is simple, especially in such a difficult situation. it treats its characters carefully. its simple language is straight to the point. it opposes gender stereotypes. and i reallyreally want to see it on stage :( :(
fav quotes:
- “You look like the sort of woman who’s got better things to do than marry a man.”
- “I’m sorry. I’m not an emotional person. These are not emotions, per se. I prefer to think of them as - natural disasters.”
- “I don’t really like people that much but you’re OK.”
- “You broke my heart. You break my heart. I didn’t know I had a heart until you broke it.”
yes, i'm procrastinating.
i love how it deals with emotions. it shows that no feeling is simple, especially in such a difficult situation. it treats its characters carefully. its simple language is straight to the point. it opposes gender stereotypes. and i reallyreally want to see it on stage :( :(
fav quotes:
- “You look like the sort of woman who’s got better things to do than marry a man.”
- “I’m sorry. I’m not an emotional person. These are not emotions, per se. I prefer to think of them as - natural disasters.”
- “I don’t really like people that much but you’re OK.”
- “You broke my heart. You break my heart. I didn’t know I had a heart until you broke it.”
yes, i'm procrastinating.
April 20, 2017
One of the most beautiful pieces of literature I've read. So moving. Silverman has such a truthful ear for dialog and a good grasp on grief and all its forms. I loved the nod to the Greek stories of the eternal wanderer and the woman in wait. Just beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews