A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Lunch Bunch

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  5w, 3m

Adrian Einspanier

Seven public defenders search for meaning, belonging, and something resembling order through their hurried quest for the perfect lunch – while battling ACS, inequality, burnout, and a heaping helping of existential dread.

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Lunch Bunch

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w, 3m
  • Duration
    Duration
    60 minutes (1 hour)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

Dragon Fruit! Black Beluga Lentils! Perfectly Soft-Boiled Eggs! Amidst the distinct fear/feeling that the world is, always has been, always will be going to sh*t, seven public defenders seek meaning, belonging, and some semblance of order via their frenzied quest for the perfect lunch (bunch).

History
Lunch Bunch premiered at Clubbed Thumb in New York City on 17 May 2019. Directed by Tara Ahmadinejad, the production featured Eliza Bent, Ugo Chukwu, Irene Sofia Lucio, Keilly McQuail, Nana Mensah, Jon Norman Schneider and Julia Sirna-Frest. The play returned to NYC on 15 March 2023 at NYC Play Company. Again directed by Ahmadinejad, the production featured returning actors Chukwu and Sirna-Frest, along with Janice Amaya, Tala Ashe, David Greenspan, Louisa Jacobson, Francis Mateo and Jo Mei.
Keywords
Performing Groups

TUTTLE
JACOB
HANNAH
GREG
TAL
MITRA
NICOLE
DAVID

Author's Note: Character’s ages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical shapes/sizes/abilities are mostly unspecified, and in development we have found various/multiple compelling maps/versions. Names, pronouns, references might change accordingly – or not. As long it’s *thoughtful* to the story it’s telling. That said, quite practically, this play draws inspiration from a public defender office in the Bronx. There should be more women and trans people than cis men. Racial diversity is a must.

  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting

    A public defender’s office. The present.

  • Features Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 60 minutes (1 hour)
  • Cautions
    • Strong Language

Media

“Idiosyncratic, nonrealistic, gently experimental... but also charming and smart and kindly.” – The New York Times

“[A] trim, compassionate comedy... idiosyncratic, nonrealistic, gently experimental... but also charming and smart and kindly.” – The New York Times

“Excellent workplace comedy... rattling, lickety-split dialogue... Lunch Bunch is at once a cry for help and a joyful, fizzy comedy of manners; it celebrates both getting a father limited visitation rights and the value of a good sandwich.” – TimeOut New York

“Stylish... a dramatic Bento box full of savory dialogue and sour insights, with an appropriately sweet dessert.” – TheaterMania

“A workplace comedy with a twist, a culinary entertainment served with piquant hints of frustration and sadness... its humor lands all the more effectively for being placed against a background of hard truths.” – Lighting & Sound America

Licensing & Materials

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

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Authors

Adrian Einspanier

Adrian Einspanier

Adrian Einspanier’s (they/them) plays include Lunch Bunch (PlayCo and Clubbed Thumb; New York Times and Time Out Critic’s Picks), House Plant (New York Theatre Workshop’s Next Door; “highbrow / brilliant” in New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix; Lambda Literary Award Finalist) ...

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