The Tall Girls
The Tall Girls, written by Meg Miroshnik and directed by Madeleine Regina, is set in the Dust Bowl-era rural Midwest of the 1930s. In the isolated hamlet of Poor Prairie, most men have left town to seek work, so the arrival of a mysterious man by train immediately draws attention—especially from high school girls hoping to secure a future and perhaps a “meal ticket.” He is a teacher, he understands basketball, and he possesses the town’s only inflated basketball.
Inspired by the rise and decline of girls’ high school basketball teams in the rural Midwest, the play considers who can afford the luxury of play and what childhood costs during a time of hardship. The production is presented with support from Joseph and Julie Warin.
When: December 3–20, 2026
Showtimes: December 3 at 7:30 PM; December 4 at 7:30 PM; December 5 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM; December 6 at 2:00 PM; December 10 at 7:30 PM; December 11 at 7:30 PM; December 12 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM; December 13 at 2:00 PM; December 17 at 7:30 PM; December 18 at 7:30 PM; December 19 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM; and December 20 at 2:00 PM.
Tickets: Price not available
Venue: 1st Stage
Playwright: Meg Miroshnik
Director: Madeleine Regina
Setting and premise: In 1930s Poor Prairie, a remote Dust Bowl town where men have gone elsewhere to find work, a mysterious returning local becomes the high school’s teacher and brings the only inflated basketball in town. His arrival gives the girls a chance to play while they confront limited choices, economic hardship, expectations of marriage, and the meaning of childhood.
Inspiration and themes: The play draws on the flourishing and subsequent decline of girls’ high school basketball teams in the rural Midwest. It asks who can afford to play and what it costs to remain a child in difficult circumstances.
Open-captioned performances: December 10 at 7:30 PM, December 11 at 7:30 PM, December 12 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM, and December 13 at 2:00 PM.
Audio-described performance: December 13 at 2:00 PM.
Mask-required performance: December 12 at 7:30 PM.
Community conversations: A December 5, 2026, conversation follows the 2:00 PM performance and features members of the design team discussing how they created the play’s world. After the December 6, 2026, 2:00 PM performance, audiences can speak with the director about the process of staging the production. A cast conversation follows the December 12, 2026, 2:00 PM performance. The page also lists a December 14 conversation with the cast at 7:30 PM on Zoom.
Accessibility: The production offers open-captioned and audio-described performances. The page also identifies a mask-required performance on December 12 at 7:30 PM.
Note: The page describes the production as unusual in genre and entertaining, and credits its presentation to generous support from Joseph and Julie Warin.