A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

A Middle Passage

10 Minute Play, Drama  /  2w, 1m, 1girl(s)

In an isolated drive-thru suspended from the outside world, three generations of an immigrant family work tirelessly to fulfill orders no one sees.

A Middle Passage

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 1m, 1girl(s)
  • Duration
    Duration
    10 minutes
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene Work
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! 2025 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival

Details

Summary

In an isolated drive-thru suspended from the outside world, three generations of an immigrant family work tirelessly to fulfill orders no one sees. As Grandma recounts memories from a lost homeland, language and time begin to blur, unsettling the rhythm of their lives. When strange frozen items appear and the temperature plummets, they must huddle together to survive. A surreal and haunting exploration of cultural memory, familial love and survival, A Middle Passage captures the quiet ache of being in-between.

Part of the Off Off Broadway Festival Plays, 50th Series.

History

A Middle Passage premiered off-Broadway as part of the 50th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater in August 2025. Directed by Genevieve Juras, the production featured Nova Gomez, Naomi Kim, Polina Lashkevich, Katie May Porter and Xiaoxiao Sun (孙骁骁).

Cast Attributes

MAN – Thirties, lives in exhaustion and is caught between dilemmas.
GRANDMA – Sixties, lives in nostalgia, Man’s mother, from a different world.
GRANDDAUGHTER – Six years old, lives in wonder.
WOMAN – Thirties, lives in fear, of a different race or ethnicity from the other three characters.

  • Time Period The Future
  • Setting

    A drive-thru during one of the many cracks of time and space in American society.

  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Duration 10 minutes

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £30 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Authors

Yide Cai

From Shenzhen, China, Yide Cai (蔡逸得) is a playwright, poet and translator who is now an MFA in Playwriting candidate at Boston University. His play The Rice Eaters debuted off-Broadway at the 2025 Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, and his short play A Middle Passage won the 50 ...

View full profile

Now Playing