One of the more timely and poignant themes in Holy Days is a community’s response to a crisis—a topic that feels as relevant as ever in the early twenty-first century. The crisis in Holy Days is one of the most significant of the twentieth century, as it concerns a Kansas family in 1936, during what we now know as the Dust Bowl.

In 1931, a severe drought settled on the heartland states, killing crops and livestock, and causing the erosion of the over-worked topsoil. In 1932, the “black blizzards” began. There were 38 of them in 1933 alone.

By 1934, the drought and the dust storms had spread to over 75 percent of the country, affecting 27 states severely. President Roosevelt enacted several measures during these years aimed at relief and assistance, including the extensive Shelterbelt Project of 1937-38 that reduced soil blowing by 65 percent. The drought, however, continued until the rain finally returned in 1939.

Nemeth’s play, like Dorothea Lange’s photography for the Farm Security Administration during the Dust Bowl, highlights the frequently-overlooked hardships faced by women and children in these grim conditions. While the relationship between the two couples drives the plot, the story’s themes are embodied—quite literally—by the women. The juxtaposition of life and death, of despair and hope—the yin and yang of Holy Days—is manifested corporeally in Rosie and Molly. The movement of one toward the other provides the redemption implied in the title.

While, historically of course, rural families have often remained insular out of necessity, leaving the majority of gender-based coalition-forming to their more urban peers, Nemeth’s characters take a step toward the mutual understanding and equitable sharing of life’s burdens that any viable feminist project must envision. Rosie and Gant, Molly and Will achieve a spirit of community borne of a realization of their common welfare. Ultimately, Nemeth’s story is a tale of community, sacrifice, endurance, and hope. This is, in fact, the story of the American character: that sacrifice and endurance provide hope for our future.

Holy Days was first produced in 1988. Nemeth’s other plays include Spinning Into Blue, Mill Fire, and Sally’s Shorts, a collection of short plays and monologues for women. She has also written episodes of “Law and Order,” as well as Disney’s made-for-tv movie, “Right on Track,” about a girl racecar driver.

For additional information, try Women in Modern History: A Brief History by Lois W. Banner (not as daunting as its title might suggest, and with lots of pictures!). Nemeth’s play was collected in Plays from Southcoast Repertory (published by Broadway Play Publishers).

[July 2005; obsolete link removed January 2010]

Return to HOLY DAYS

Return to ECHO READS... History