Overview
When struggling actor Tom Braddle discovers that his former fiancé has written a new play with a part for him, his hopes for reuniting are dashed by a realization that the play is all too autobiographical. Did Adam have a hand in the tragic death of his wife and child? A dizzying constellation of competing stories and interests swirl around the company and then – Adam disappears on opening night. A thriller, a comedy, a drama – a meditation on the impulse to make sense of tragedy in our lives through the theater.
Casting & Production
Casting
4 Actors play the following roles:
ADAM MACE — A playwright, late 30s; intense, enigmatic, brooding in a way that makes theater people love him.
The actor also plays:
ANDREW — Adam’s fictional self in the play he has written.
ACTOR — The actor that plays Andrew, while in rehearsals.
THALIA SWIFT — His lifelong friend and muse, an actress, funny, sharp tongued, a downtown star.
The actor also plays:
TABITHA — her alter-ego in Adam’s play.
ASHLEY STONE — an actor, just out of grad school, perhaps a bit dim.
TOM BRADDLE — An actor, Adam’s former partner, somewhat younger than Adam. Bitter and very hurt, understandably.
The actor also plays:
THOMAS — the villain of Adam’s play
JOAN KAY — The artistic director of the theater and director of LOT’S WIFE. She’s a tiger, ambitious, funny, powerful, and desperate for a win.
VOICEOVER ROLES:
CAROL — The stage manager. She is running rehearsals and could be calling cues from a tech table in the house, or (highly preferred) be the actual stage manager.
SHEILA — Recorded voiceover, Tom’s agent
Setting
A large city with a thriving theater community – in this case, New York, present day. That same city in an imagined, noirish version in the 1930s. The Mace family’s elegant Upper West Side apartment. A large non-profit theater that is producing a new play called Lot’s Wife. Memory.
Reviews
“A sophisticated mystery [and] comedy… so refreshingly different… Eric Rosen shows why he is a first-rate storyteller and dramatist.”
—Chicago Critic
