‘Dry Land’ brings raw, timely story to Waltham stage

Ester is a swimmer trying to stay afloat. Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. Dry Land is a play about abortion, female friendship and resiliency, and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody’s left.

Play by Ruby Rae Spiegel. Directed by Esther Daube-Valois at Hovey Players

“Dry Land,” a play about Florida teenagers Amy and Ester during an intense phase of their adolescence, opens at Waltham’s Abbott Memorial Theater on Friday, May 29. The story is as timely as today’s newspaper, and promises to be Hovey Players’ latest must-see.

Amy and Ester have a close, and complicated, relationship. The audience will see them ride an emotional roller coaster over a period of weeks. Director Esther Daube-Valois (Brandeis ’23) describes “Dry Land” as “one of the most real shows I’ve ever seen.  … Without the truth in the show, we wouldn’t be able to show [Amy and Ester’s] growth – their highs and lows. It’s beautiful and ugly all at the same time.”

Em Sheeran, who plays Ester, agrees. “You’re not seeing the best of them, but you’re seeing the truth of them. Developmentally, this is when teenagers are testing limits – risk taking is higher – you’re going to make mistakes and piss people off. Peers either correct them, and they learn, or not. That’s how they grow.”  

For Amy and Ester in particular, Sheeran says, “these two are in a situation where the stakes only get higher. This makes them say ever crazier things. But how much are they telling the truth, and how much are they putting on a front for each other? It’s upsetting, and it’s beautiful, and it’s funny.”

As befits a Hovey Players production, many of those involved have deep roots in the community. In addition to her theater work at Brandeis, Daube-Valois has previously directed at Bentley University.  Sheeran first worked at Hovey Players as a teen, and has appeared with local companies the Concord Players, the Vokes Players and Umbrella Arts as well. They find the Hovey stage in particular, with the audience so close to the actors, lends itself well to plays that deal with difficult material. “For me as an artist, and as a producer,” Sheeran says, “that part really excites me.”

Playwright Ruby Rae Spiegel was a finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for “Dry Land,” which was first produced off-Broadway in 2014. “Dry Land” has drawn comparisons to “John Proctor Is the Villain,” “Yellow Jackets” and “The Wolves,” another recent Hovey production, for its honest portrayal of young women in crisis. As Sheeran says, “It’s hard enough to be a teenager. The two girls in the script are lucky enough to have each other to share the burden.”

It gives nothing away to say Amy is pregnant, and doesn’t want to be: The play’s content warning makes this clear. Sheeran notes that as with any art, “Dry Land” is inherently political. Spiegel’s play, written some 12 years ago, is perhaps more relevant in 2026 than the playwright could have then known, or hoped. But it is not didactic or preachy. Amy and Ester deal with financial challenges, and shame.  They do not discuss voting, or the Supreme Court. 

Still, Daube-Valois hopes people leave the show thinking about the political side of it. “What makes this show even more real is that this story might be happening in locker rooms around the country right now.”

“Dry Land” runs about 100 minutes, with no intermission. The cast includes Adeline Cota, Em Sheeran, Katie Gebbia, Ari Stillman and Ed Siegal.

Performance Dates: May 29 and 30, and June 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13 at 8 p.m., and May 31 & June 7 at 2 p.m. The theater is at 9 Spring St., Waltham. Tickets may be purchased at the Hovey Players website or at the door.

CONTENT WARNING: Dry Land includes strong language; blood; discussion of self-harm, eating disorders and suicide; and the portrayal of violence and abortion.