Young Pilgrims premiered in 2019 in Broadway producer Ken Davenport's RAVE Theater Festival.

The New York Times wrote as follows:

You think you know the Pilgrims?

Discover the people behind the story you thought you knew.

  • The Mayflower Pilgrims are America’s origin story, yet most Americans have simple, stereotyped ideas about them. For example, the Pilgrims didn’t wear black clothes and black hats with buckles. For most of them, the black dye was too expensive!
  • Young Pilgrims is about the young people on the ship, ages 13 to 21, including John Alden, the ship’s barrel maker, and Priscilla Mullins, the daughter of one of the wealthy men who put together the voyage.
  • These young people behaved much like young people today. As the play opens, we find John and his friend, Gilbert Winslow, spending time on the deck, rating the girls on the ship from one to ten. John is smitten with Priscilla Mullins (a “ten”), but she won’t talk to him because he’s a “stranger” (non-religious Pilgrim). Gilbert instructs John about the Pilgrims, and tries to help John in his up and down courtship.
  • By the time they reach the new world, John and Priscilla are practically a couple—until she learns that he intends to go back to England to sell furs. She soon after becomes engaged to Joseph Rogers, a very devout Pilgrim.
  • A deadly disease kills off half of the Pilgrims and strangers. John winds up nursing Joseph back to health, and he decides to stay in the new world with his new friends. He tells Priscilla that Joseph is a good man, and she should marry him. But she replies, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?”
The Mayflower Pilgrims are America’s origin story, yet most Americans have simple, stereotyped ideas about them. For example, the Pilgrims didn’t wear black clothes and black hats with buckles. For most of them, the black dye was too expensive!
Young Pilgrims is about the young people on the ship, ages 13 to 21, including John Alden, the ship’s barrel maker, and Priscilla Mullins, the daughter of one of the wealthy men who put together the voyage.
These young people behaved much like young people today. As the play opens, we find John and his friend, Gilbert Winslow, spending time on the deck, rating the girls on the ship from one to ten. John is smitten with Priscilla Mullins (a “ten”), but she won’t talk to him because he’s a “stranger” (non-religious Pilgrim). Gilbert instructs John about the Pilgrims, and tries to help John in his up and down courtship.
By the time they reach the new world, John and Priscilla are practically a couple—until she learns that he intends to go back to England to sell furs. She soon after becomes engaged to Joseph Rogers, a very devout Pilgrim.
A deadly disease kills off half of the Pilgrims and strangers. John winds up nursing Joseph back to health, and he decides to stay in the new world with his new friends. He tells Priscilla that Joseph is a good man, and she should marry him. But she replies, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?”

The play enjoyed a seven-week run in Duxbury, MA, in the summer of 2022, produced by Sydney Blake.

Review in the Old Colony Memorial Newspaper of Plymouth, MA:

"...The play has enjoyed a long run, with its first show being held July 1st. Performances continue to attract sell-out crowds. 'Young Pilgrims' premiered off-Broadway and garnered a positive review from the New York Times. Blake, an actress and former sitcom writer ('Empty Nest,' 'Mama's Family,' 'Major Dad') uses her humor and storytelling skills to craft a funny and touching tale set aboard the Mayflower.

The audience sees love blossom in spite of hardships and the conventions of the time between John Alden and his future wife, Priscilla Mullins. Blake's sitcom writing experience comes to the fore, with the characters delivering a steady stream of lines and looks to keep the audience entertained and laughing through the 90-minute performance."

August 10th, 2022

If you'd like to see a video of the play, please contact the playwright, Sydney Blake, at youngpilgrimstheplay@gmail.com