Coastal disturbances

Set on a private Massachusetts beach during the tail end of summer, the play follows Holly Dancer, a young photographer struggling with her professional identity. While staying at her aunt’s coastal home, she enters a tentative romance with Leo Harty, a local lifeguard. Their developing intimacy is interrupted by the return of Holly's former lover, a demanding gallery owner from the city. The narrative focuses on the shifting dynamics between three generations of vacationers who occupy the sand, moving through heatwaves and sudden rainstorms.

Artists and theater students read this play to examine Howe’s specific use of ensemble staging and naturalistic dialogue. It functions as a technical study in how environment and weather patterns influence character behavior and social tension within a single location. Readers walk away with a clear understanding of the friction between urban career pressures and the isolation of seasonal retreats. The text provides a blueprint for building interpersonal conflict through the mundane interactions of people sharing a confined public space.