The Welfare Queen

What happens when the woman asking for help and the woman deciding whether she deserves it have more in common than either is willing to admit?

The Welfare Queen is a two-person play set inside a worn Department of Family and Children Services office in the contemporary South. Through humor, confrontation, and spoken word, the play follows Idea Jasmine, a whimsical young woman applying for food stamps while pursuing her dream of opening a hair studio, and Masque Hollow, a blunt, rule-hugging caseworker nearing retirement. As their meetings unfold, both women are forced to the stories they've been told about poverty, motherhood, and success. When Idea publicly exposes Ms. Hollow's remarks, the backlash threatens to close the very office serving families like her own, forcing both women to reckon with the consequences of their choices.