THE DANGER YEAR
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Georgia Stitt
When advances in technology aim to connect us but wind up driving us further into isolation, what does it mean to be truly connected? This idea is explored through the Japanese concept of The Danger Year, or yakudoshi, which is a cultural acknowledgement that certain years of transition from one phase of life to the next are inevitably going to be hard, even dangerous. We see them coming, but it’s nearly impossible to be prepared. The struggle to endure and grow from life’s inevitable great changes is part of the universal human condition, transcending culture, race, and gender. The pivotal “danger years” in a person’s life are identified as ages 19, 25, 33, 37, and 42.
ZOE (25) is a singer/songwriter whose experience with the music business is pulling her further and further away from the music itself. She met Adam when they were both 19.
ADAM (25) works as a sound engineer at a TV station and takes care of his ailing mother.
JILL (33) is a yoga instructor. She and her husband MICHAEL (37) love to travel and have wanted to start a family. MICHAEL is Zoe’s manager.
MAGGIE (42) is a successful TV newscaster who has always put her career before everything else.
SHOW DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
May 2024: staged reading at Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio; David Coolidge, director
October 2022: production at The Table Co/Lab, Dallas, TX; Chris Sanders, director
August 2021: first production at College Light Opera Company, Falmouth, MA; Hunter Foster, director
Feb 2015: workshop at Pace New Musicals, NYC
Jan 2015: concert presentation at 54 Below, NYC; Jason Robert Brown, director
Oct 2014: concert presentation at The Garrick Theatre, London; Danielle Tarento, director
May 2014: first reading at The York Theatre, NYC; Kent Nicholson, director
