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DEE, 17, knows there’s something odd about her mother’s story about her absent father, so when she meets fellow Senior ZAC at Medford High School in Boston, Massachusetts, she is intrigued to discover that he is donor conceived and wonders if she is too. Secretly, she begins to search for information and is stunned when she finds what appears to be a donor profile hidden in an ancient family Bible. Why has her mother, JUNE, a passionate Humanist who believes people can be “good without a God”, kept this from her? Desperate to know more, but fearful of upsetting June, Dee persuades Zac to search for their sperm donors together under the guise of a group assignment, unaware that June is secretly seeing a therapist to find the courage to tell her explosive secret. Myth, secrets and lies are interwoven in this tender, funny and sometimes shocking coming-of-age story about a group of people for whom the fundamental human question, "Who Am I?" may be impossible to answer.
Casting notes: As d-baby is a play about genealogy and physical inheritance, blind casting is not possible. However, references in the play to some inherited traits, such as having brown eyes, may be changed to suit the actors who are cast.
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Female | Teen | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 50
EXTRACT: Hi, It’s me. Dee. Please don’t turn this off. Deidre Maeve Ryan. I’m seventeen. Born May seventh, two thousand. She moves closer to the camera, touching her face. Remind you of anyone? She steps back. I don’t wanna freak you out. Really. I’m not some psycho. I’ve just learned that we might be related. Which is kinda like freaking me out. So I thought I’d introduce myself. I was named after my Irish Grandmother, Deidre Maeve Ryan. At least I thought she was my grandmother. I don’t remember her coz she died when I was two.
Male | Teen | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 46
EXTRACT: Yeah? I’ve had my whole life to deal with kids at school saying, “I feel so sorry for you, not knowing your real dadâ€; wondering whether it’s worth telling the check-out chick when she looks at my dark-haired mom and asks, “So where’d they find you? In the cabbage patch?†Sticking up for Zoe at school when they say her dad’s a wanker. Then I see my dad’s face. It’s not HIS genes running around on that field. Does he look sorry for himself, knowing he was some sort of genetic DUD? Shit, no!
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