Stranded in the lifeless heart of Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma, and reeling from the traumatic death of her mother, Cindy Wicket teeters on the brink of madness. When her scheming Aunt Eudora arrives claiming ownership of the home and authority over Cindy, a turbulent battle of wits and wills ensues. Meanwhile, Eudora’s daughter Ella must wrestle with her own mounting desperation as she watches her hopes for the future vanish beneath dust, dead crops, and her mother’s all-consuming greed. With the arrival of a handsome young man from Chicago offering to buy the land, the stage is set for a final conflict over control of the homestead and the destinies of all who live there.

The Cinderella story dates back more than than 3000 years. Almost every culture has its own telling: from Germans to the Algonquins, the Chinese, to West Africans. We became fascinated with the recurring characters and messages of these ancient fables, especially how they addressed women: their intimate and interpersonal struggles, the necessity and danger of hope, and the gifts or burdens our mothers leave us. The result is Cindy & Ella a play that claims hundreds of Cinderellas as its ancestors, but that we wrote mostly to entertain each other; to be, first and foremost, a cracking good story full of characters we love, exciting twists, humor, violence, madness and magic.