Next Door
13 F - Full Length - 85-95 min
Something horrible has happened next door. With those children. And their parents. And the chains. So Sheila, then Helen, then Erica, Cathy, Kathy, Miranda, Patty, Julie, Linda, Allison, Martha and Bebe just stopped by to check in, drop off some comfort food, and hear how Brenda’s holding up. I mean, she couldn’t have known. Right? NEXT DOOR is an explosive, darkly comedic, and layered (like lasagna) dissection of pseudo-feminist self-actualization rhetoric and the pleasures to be found in proximity to pain.
CHARACTERS
BRENDA……………………….……….. 30s, she/her
SHEILA………………………………….... 30s, she/her
HELEN……………………………………... 30s, she/her
ERICA……………………………………... 30s, she/her
CATHY……………………………………. 30s, she/her
KATHY/FELICITY……………... 30s, she/her
MIRANDA……………………………... 30s, she/her
PATTY ………………………..……........ 30s, she/her
JULIE……………………………………..…. 30s, she/her
LINDA……………………………….……... 30s, she/her
ALLISON…………………………………. 30s, she/her
MARTHA…………………….......….... 30s, she/her
BEBE……………………………………..…. 30s, she/her
Development History
Workshop, Steep Theatre Company, dir. Laura Alcalá Baker, Chicago, IL, August 2022
Reading, Steep Theatre Company, dir. Sophiyaa Nayar, Chicago, IL, April 2021
Developed in Steep’s “What Moves You: Introduction to Playwriting” (Spring 2020) and “Strategy and Structure: Intermediate Playwriting” (Winter 2020) classes, taught by Alex Lubischer
A structure chart for an early draft of NEXT DOOR