Lot's Wife

A Play

By: Dixie Arthur

Narrated by: Ali Cheff

Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in urban Los Angeles, a foreign country to this family of displaced Southerners, and spanning 30 years, beginning in the late 1950s, this intimate episodic story, told by the family's daughter, begins with her birth on a hot August afternoon, following her as she recalls her most challenging, pivotal memories. With wry humor and tenacity she survives rejection and alienation, the corrosive secrets of abuse and incest, grief, heartbreak, and finally hope. Funny and scrappy, she tells her story with a voice uniquely her own.

©2015 Dixie Lee Arthur (P)2020 Dixie Lee Arthur

A dramatic, personal story

I'm a freelance theater critic who covers local theater here in Orcutt and Santa Maria, CA. At this time, our theaters are dark due to COVID-19, so it's nice to be able to hear the work of a local playwright here on Audible.

The title refers to the Biblical figure Lot's Wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt for looking back at the destruction of Sodom. Likewise, the play's narrator tends to look back. She addresses the audience directly, telling us her life story. This feels like a very personal story. Not knowing much about the background of this new play, I wondered whether it was based on truth.

When the narrator was a child, her Southern family was transplanted to the very different culture of Los Angeles. The story is somewhat episodic, but each scene flows into the next. The main focus is on her relationship with her father, who is abusive in every sense of the word. While he's consistently despicable throughout the play, a few moments help to humanize him, like his monologue about why music is so important to him. (Although even that is a pretense to belittle and alienate his daughter.)

Early on, the narrator tells us that all of her happy memories lead into sad ones. Indeed, the rest of the play shows that to be the case. As she grows older, she also deals with a severe illness in her family and another abusive relationship. As you might expect with this kind of subject matter, it can feel a bit grim, however there are moments of levity here and there, and the message ultimately seems to be a hopeful one.

In this recording, the play is read by Ali Cheff. Not only does she play multiple roles, but she also plays the characters at various ages, creating a distinctive voice for each.

Some parts of the play, such as the room-trashing scene at the climax, seem like they would be very dramatic live on stage. Hopefully when our theaters re-open, we'll get to see a live production.

A riviting and engaging story!!

I couldn't stop listening. Lot's Wife is a riviting and engaging story of a broken women who is looking for a way to move forward. Tragic and hard to listen to at times the story is ultimately about hope and resilience. I highly recommend listening!!

Great from start to finish!

This play was extremely well written, heartbreaking at times and the character “ Me” was so relatable and honest. I found it hard to stop listening to. I felt I got to know the characters and was right there in it with them. It was a story of a little girl at first who seems to have the odds against her. Later she is a woman, learning to love herself. Trial after trial she never gives up. Through it all she stayed insightful, sincere and she persevered. I believe everyone can relate to this story in some way.