Josiah's Secret: A Play

Marietta Holley was one of the best-selling American authors of her era, outselling Mark Twain with her Samantha Allen novels. This play brings her sharp satirical voice to the stage. Josiah's Secret finds the Allen marriage at its comic peak: Samantha, the sharp-tongued feminist before the word existed, squares off against her hapless but lovable husband over some mystery he's been keeping. Through their witty exchanges, Holley dissects the absurd assumptions of gender, the invisible labor of wives, and the theatrical performance of domesticity. The humor cuts deep. Here, the home becomes a battlefield of wits where one person has finally started to notice how unequal the ledger really is. A century before modern feminism had its name, Holley was writing plays that made audiences laugh while sneaking revolutionary ideas into their heads.