Summary
The Odd Couple meets Breaking Bad in this wickedly funny dark comedy by Jen Silverman. With a recent divorce and her son living across the country, 50-something Midwesterner Sharon posts a listing for a roommate to fill the empty space of her Iowa home. Enter Brooklyn native Robyn, a fascinating woman who needs a place to hide and the chance to start over. When Sharon begins to uncover Robyn’s secrets, she taps in to a deep-seated desire to abandon her comfort zone and live a life of danger and adventure. The Roommate cleverly navigates the rocky roads of change and hilariously examines what happens when the wheels come off.
cast
SHARON - F, 54
ROBYN - F, 56
ROBYN - F, 56
history
The Roommate premiered at the Actor's THetare of Louisville as a part of the Humana Festival of Plays in March 2015 under the direction of Mike Donahue.
- TIME PERIOD - Present Day
- SETTING - A big, old house in Iowa City. Now in summer.
- FEATURES - Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
- ADDITIONAL FEATURES - No intermission
- DURATION - 105 Minutes
- CAUTIONS
- Strong Language
- Smoking
REVIEWS
"The Roommate tugs at the heartstrings as much as it tickles the funny bone." - Louisville.com, Read More
"Equal parts nuanced and comically exaggerated, The Roommate addresses themes of aging, femininity and identity in a fresh, humorous way." - WFPL, Read More
"[...] a warm and wonderful story that explores how a person's ideas about herself can be limiting but, under certain circumstances, can change in a short period of time and alter the tragectory of one's life." - The Courier-Jurnal, Read More
"It’s probably going to enjoy a really long life in Equity houses and community theaters around the country. It’s just that good, and just that fun.” - Arts-Louisville.com, Read More
"Jen Silverman's The Roommate, a new one-act about isolation, second chances and the consequences of our choices, is as tragic as they come - and it's a tragedy that subtly grows beneath peals of uproarious laughter." - Broadway World, Read More
"The Roommate tugs at the heartstrings as much as it tickles the funny bone." - Louisville.com, Read More
"Equal parts nuanced and comically exaggerated, The Roommate addresses themes of aging, femininity and identity in a fresh, humorous way." - WFPL, Read More
"[...] a warm and wonderful story that explores how a person's ideas about herself can be limiting but, under certain circumstances, can change in a short period of time and alter the tragectory of one's life." - The Courier-Jurnal, Read More
"It’s probably going to enjoy a really long life in Equity houses and community theaters around the country. It’s just that good, and just that fun.” - Arts-Louisville.com, Read More
"Jen Silverman's The Roommate, a new one-act about isolation, second chances and the consequences of our choices, is as tragic as they come - and it's a tragedy that subtly grows beneath peals of uproarious laughter." - Broadway World, Read More
about the playwright
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Jen Silverman
Jen Silverman is a New York-based writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Her theatre work includes The Moors (Yale Repertory Theatre premiere, off-Broadway with The Playwrights Realm, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist); The Roommate (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville Humana world premiere, multiple regional productions including South Coast Rep, SF Playhouse and Williamstown Theatre Festival, upcoming at Steppenwolf); Phoebe in Winter (off-off-Broadway with Clubbed Thumb); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth premiere); and All the Roads Home, a play with songs (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park premiere). Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard. More info: www.jensilverman.com |
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