In the play, the dysfunctional tenants of a ramshackle house air their dirty laundry on the front porch while their young daughter dreams of getting away to start a better life. An outrageous front porch comedy featuring a wide variety of small town characters.
The play was written by local playwright Jonathan Joy. He's a West Virginia native, the author of nine plays and the Winner of the 2005 Write Like Mamet Award. His work has been performed at the Where Eagles Dare Theatre in New York City, First Stage in Los Angeles, the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and numerous venues in Ohio and West Virginia. His writing has been published by the New York Times, One Act Play Depot, Smith & Kraus, Brooklyn Publishers & more. Plays include two award winning full length comedies. American Standard and The Princess of Rome, Ohio and seven one-act plays including Just Another Day in November which recently premiered at the Clay Center in Charleston and at Marshall University.
The Princess of Rome, Ohio was a finalist in Seven Devils Play writing Conference, Semi-Finalist in Dayton Playhouse FutureFest, Winner 2004 1st Place Maier Award, 2005 Columbus Fringe Festival
The Comedy / Drama includes parts for four males and three females. The female roles include:
Alma - nervous fidgety woman in her thirties.
Hattie - age 14- lived more life than a typical 14 year old girl.
Lulu - 30- and Hattie’s mom.
The male roles include:
Jimmy - age 14- new neighbor to Hattie and Lulu.
Dicky, slovenly dressed and drunk – Chester’s Brother (Alma just left Chester and he drove the house right out of town) Also the towns only cop.
Bud -30s- Lulu’s long estranged husband who resurfaces.
England – rubust gentleman with a british accent 30-40.
The play is basically a story of the three love lifes. Alma, whose husband Chester hitches up the house and leaves after their most recent fight. (Although she is better off and had left him multiple times before.) Chester's brother Dicky insists that Alma tell him where Chester went - because he drove off with their eBay business in that house. Alma finds love online with England who comes to visit - they appear to have a promising potential.
Lulu got married and pregnant as a teen. She believed she had shot and killed her husband years ago, but gets the surprise of him showing up on her door step with flowers and promises of being a changed man. Despite his promises, the situation quickly goes back to both verbal and physical fights. Lulu sends Bud packing, but he wants to come back and see his little princess (Hattie), although Hattie would rather not see him.
Hattie is a teenager but has lived a lot of life for a 14-year-old. Her mom doesn’t think Hattie knows about her father "death" (though she does). She is the type to grab a beer, though she knows she isn’t supposed to. Hattie even goes to the local strip club to audition, pretending she is 18, because she thought it was funny. She has just lived and watched too much life. An awkward relationship is brewing with Jimmy, the new boy next door. One day, when they couldn’t decide what to do other than get away from the house, they come home married.
There is a rise in the chaos as Lulu and Bud fight, England surprises Alma by coming to visit, and Hattie arrives a little shaken by what she just did. In the mess of everything Hattie takes a gun, shoots a couple of warning shots, and makes people finally listen to her – and all she really wants is to stop living their messed up lives on the front porch and learn to talk to each other. Show ends with a tentative hint towards a baby step that direction.
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