A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

53% Of

Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy  /  6w

Steph Del Rosso

This biting satire explores the beliefs of white women on each side of the American political spectrum, exposing both those whose activism empowered the politics of the far right conservative party, and those whose performative liberal allyship has problematic limits.

53% Of

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    6w
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene Work
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades

  • Winner! 2019 Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award

Details

Summary

The President is coming to town, and the ladies of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania are beside themselves planning for the big event. Later, their husbands drink beer and talk smack. Much later, a group of 20-somethings gather in Brooklyn to plan a fundraiser... or is it a march? Or is it a ritual to absolve their own guilt? A play about complicity and the violence of the status quo, 53% Of asks what happens when we stop equating white womanhood with goodness, and ignorance with innocence.

History

After a workshop at Ojai Playwrights Conference in 2018, 53% Of premiered off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater on 14 June 2022. Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, the production featured Anna Crivelli, Eden Malyn, Marianna McClellan, Grace Rex, Cathryn Wake and Ayana Workman.

Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups

LESLIE/LARRY/LUCY – white
DENISE/DEREK/DANA – white
SUE/STAN/SASHA – white
VICKY/VICTOR/VIVIAN – white
PJ/RJ – white
KJ – Black

The characters in Scenes 1 and 2 are in their 30s-40s.
The characters in Scenes 3 and 4 are in their 20s-30s.

  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting

    A living room in PA. An apartment in Brooklyn. A bar in Harlem. Dec 2016–Mar 2017.

  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol

Media

“Expose[s] all parts of America's wretched political spectrum (particularly its Caucasian portions) for playing the same ludicrous game.” – TheaterMania

“Del Rosso’s play is a kind of target practice, and in every act those targets are big... The conservative women crave status and recognition. The conservative men crave women who aren’t their wives. The liberal women mask ego as sanctimony.” – The New York Times

“An arresting, surprising, powerful play!” – New Play Exchange

“Steph Del Rosso draws... unflattering parallels between the white women who voted for Trump and the ones who marched against him.” – TheaterMania

Videos

  • 53% Of at UCSD Theatre youtube thumbnail

    53% Of at UCSD Theatre

  • 53% Of at Second Stage youtube thumbnail

    53% Of at Second Stage

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

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Authors

Steph Del Rosso

Steph Del Rosso
Steph Del Rosso is a playwright, fiction writer, screenwriter and educator. She is a MacDowell Fellow, an Affiliated Writer at the Playwrights’ Center, a New Georges Affiliated Artist and a winner of the Steinberg Playwright Award. Her plays have been produced nationally and ...
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