M – They/them, 20. The star. Our MC. Swinging wildly between pissed, sweet and mystical, maybe mythical. Sometimes in control of the narrative, sometimes being swept away by the story. M is an emerging drag performer moonlighting as a bar back at the local hole-in-the-wall gay bar downtown.
GREG – He/him, 40s-50s. M’s father. The earth. Clumsily making his way through this world. A terminal diagnosis brings out a complicated core of wants and desires and regrets. He’s been stuck in an office with fluorescent lights overhead and has never felt much of a purpose... until now.
VIV – She/her, 40s-50s. M’s mother. The space between. Slightly neurotic and easy to get riled up, she wants with all her might to spend her last days with Greg, alone in a bed with M by their side. A bit of “I’d like to speak to the manager” energy. A bit of a ferocious tornado, ready to protect her family, wondering how the fuck she can fix this.
LILA & OTHERS – She/her, 20s-30s. Viv’s younger sister, a high-maintenance yoga gal, the center of her own universe. But she’s ride-or-die for family and can be a surprisingly great listener. Also plays: GRETA – Part-Greta Thunberg, part-Peter Pan, part-screaming-teenage-girl-at-a-Taylor-Swift-concert, part-Angel of Death; as well as GROCERY CLERK, SHELLY, KATHY and ENSEMBLE A.
WILL & OTHERS – He/him, 20s-30s. Good-natured and well-meaning but uncomfortable in social situations and too smart for his own good. M’s boyfriend. Also plays: TV NARRATOR, FRANK, KEV, ARMY GUY, MELOMYS and ENSEMBLE B.
JANET & OTHERS – She/her, 60s. Dealing with her wife’s cancer diagnosis by at times lashing out, at times being the best older sister you could ever hope for. Blue collar. Also plays: DR. THOMAS – Greg’s doctor with a near-robotic, perhaps excessively cold bedside manner; TOAD – A now extinct Golden Toad, a kind of washed-up rock star and quick to sob; as well as DOORDASH GAL, SUZIE and ENSEMBLE C.
The cast should feel like it’s full of different colors, backgrounds, body shapes, etc.
The playwright also always envisioned the Murphys as a mixed-race family.
The cast should feel like it’s full of different colors, backgrounds, body shapes, etc.
The playwright also always envisioned the Murphys as a mixed-race family.