Madeleines

by Bess Welden

Winner of the 2022 National Jewish Playwriting Contest and premiered at Portland Stage. Debra, a struggling food writer, has returned to her childhood home in Ohio’s rust belt to care for her declining mother Rose, an exacting cookie baker. When Jennifer, Debra's very successful older sister, arrives for Rose's funeral, shared memories and old sibling grievances boil to the surface. As the sisters confront their...

Winner of the 2022 National Jewish Playwriting Contest and premiered at Portland Stage. Debra, a struggling food writer, has returned to her childhood home in Ohio’s rust belt to care for her declining mother Rose, an exacting cookie baker. When Jennifer, Debra's very successful older sister, arrives for Rose's funeral, shared memories and old sibling grievances boil to the surface. As the sisters confront their loss, a startling secret about their mother’s most-treasured Passover recipe emerges, which changes everything they thought they knew about their family. Three years later Debra returns triumphant to New York promoting her newly published cookbook-memoir to find Jennifer in a treacherous downward spiral. Spiced with poetry and smatterings of Yiddish and Spanish, MADELEINES tells the story of a family of Jewish women grappling with how to love each other through haunted pasts, shared grief, and the solace of baking together.

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Madeleines

Recommended by

  • Mildred Inez Lewis: Madeleines by Bess Welden
    “

    Madeleines proves that writing can be warm and incisive at the same time. Lovely to listen to.

    Madeleines proves that writing can be warm and incisive at the same time. Lovely to listen to.

    ”
  • John Minigan: Madeleines by Bess Welden
    “

    Madeleines is a gorgeous play, capturing in clear strokes the ways in which our lives and our sense of self are continually redefined as we understand more deeply how we came to be where we are. Debra and Jennifer's relationship become increasingly complex as it becomes more honest, and their journey to connect to their family and each other through the complexity of cooking is wrought in beautiful detail. A resonant piece for all of us who hold (and interrogate) the traditions passed on and the traditions withheld.

    Madeleines is a gorgeous play, capturing in clear strokes the ways in which our lives and our sense of self are continually redefined as we understand more deeply how we came to be where we are. Debra and Jennifer's relationship become increasingly complex as it becomes more honest, and their journey to connect to their family and each other through the complexity of cooking is wrought in beautiful detail. A resonant piece for all of us who hold (and interrogate) the traditions passed on and the traditions withheld.

    ”
  • Playwrights Foundation: Madeleines by Bess Welden
    “

    Playwrights Foundation highly recommends MADELEINES, which excelled to the Finalist round (top 35) for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival out of 755 plays. Our community of readers felt this play best represented the mission of our festival. This work engaged us, inspired us, moved us, and was an outstanding example of transformative storytelling. Our local Bay Area Literary Council commends MADELEINES as a compelling, relevant, cathartic new work which should be produced now. Congratulations! #BAPF2021

    Playwrights Foundation highly recommends MADELEINES, which excelled to the Finalist round (top 35) for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival out of 755 plays. Our community of readers felt this play best represented the mission of our festival. This work engaged us, inspired us, moved us, and was an outstanding example of transformative storytelling. Our local Bay Area Literary Council commends MADELEINES as a compelling, relevant, cathartic new work which should be produced now. Congratulations! #BAPF2021

    ”

Character Information

For three women. All characters are of Eastern European Jewish descent.

Actor #1:

DEBRA MORITZ – late 40s; a struggling then successful food writer, sardonic sense of humor

Actor #2:

JENNIFER MORITZ – early 50s, Debra’s older sister; highly accomplished medical school professor; a mother whose own family is falling apart

Actor #3:

ROSE MORITZ – 70s, Debra and Jennifer’s mother; an exacting cookie baker and small businesswoman, frail from illness but still stubborn

LILIA KAMINSKY - 70s, a vivacious Argentinian poet, colorful and robustly healthy. Speaks Spanish and Yiddish (minimal verbal language skills required)
  • Debra Moritz
    minimal verbal Spanish skills required
    late 40s
    Jewish
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Jennifer Moritz
    early 50s
    Jewish
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Rose Moritz/Lilia Kaminsky
    minimal Spanish and Yiddish verbal skills required
    70s
    Jewish
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Workshop, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, 2023
  • Workshop, Portland Stage, 2022
  • Reading, North Shore Readers Theater/Actor's Studio Theater of Newburyport, 2021
  • Workshop, Colby College, 2021
  • Residency, National Winter Playwrights Retreat (HBMG Foundation), 2020
  • Reading, Maine Playwrights Festival, 2020

Production History

  • Professional, Portland Stage Company, 2025
  • Workshop, Jewish Theatre of Bloomington, 2023

Awards