Listen to Me breaks the rules. Irreverent, often scathing, and full of crackling wit, it explores well-known and lesser-known ancient scripture stories. A contemporary lens challenges traditional interpretations and stale tropes that have been tools of oppression for millennia. With refreshingly modern language, the narrative offers a new, unapologetic vision of an old story.
Structured largely as a mosaic of personal pieces centered around an independent and radicalized time-travelling Eve, memorable appearances by an initially defensive, nonbinary God, a tragic Abel, and a resentful Cain bring human tragedy to the tale. A cast of diverse characters, both biblical and contemporary, find their lives intersecting in surprising ways. Lot’s wife is reinterpreted as Lottie. Deborah (Deb) and Jael (Jay) are cast as present-day military brass. A wise-cracking Delilah relishes defeating Samson by cutting off his man-bun.
Beginning with a series of monologues, the story explores each character's journey while also highlighting how individual tales are yoked to the larger arc of history. The non-linear structure shifts between different time periods, perspectives, and points of view. Characters also directly address the reader. Their voices are, at turns, brash, lyrical, political, and reflective as they reveal their inner lives, pain and rage at the misogyny that has defined their lives and history.
The full cast of biblical women come together with Eve in Part IV, when the women and their laments take center stage. Gathering for a seaside retreat at a house rental with “no decent takeout,” as Bathsheba complains, Eve, Ruth, Bet (Bathsheba), Queen Vashti, and others confront the myths and personal histories that bind them.