Portland Stage Presents THE ROOMMATE

The Roommate by Jen Silverman

Directed by: Eileen Phelan, featuring: Janice O'Rourke and Lisa Stathoplos

Feb 14- Feb 18 | All Shows 7pm | Tickets $18 | Pay-What-You-Can Feb 14

"Playwright Jen Silverman brings a wicked sense of anarchic fun to 'the invisible age.'" - DC Theatre Scene

The Odd Couple meets Thelma and Louise in this contemporary, new play, which was a recent hit at both The Humana and Williamstown Theater Festivals. Sharon, divorced, and living in a house in Iowa, decides she needs a roommate. Robyn, a slam poet from the Bronx, is escaping her past and needs to start over. Despite their differences, Sharon begins to uncover Robyn's secrets and discovers her own desire to transform her life completely. Heartbreaking and blisteringly funny, The Roommate offers an exquisitely real portrait of human connection.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Playwright Jen Silverman has said,"I'm really interested in narratives for female characters that are more complicated and more authentic than the real estate that's usually given to us." Silverman wanted to address the lack of meaty roles for women in their fifties "As women, once you're out of your thirty's, in this particular society in America, you become slightly invisible...So I really wanted to write a play for badass women in their fifties." The play explores many themes, among them the fact that this invisibility can be particularly bewildering for mothers and wives who gave years of their lives to children and spouses, only to find themselves without a role and purpose as the hours tick by in silent empty houses. Director Eileen Phelan has this to say "What I love about this story is that it portrays two women coming of age when they are supposedly past their prime. Plays today don't often put mature women front and center, and give voice to their concerns and disappointments. Silverman's script is a very refreshing look at two mature, complex, female characters who catalyze change in one another. The changes in the play are fulfilling, and at times, dangerous. This story takes the characters and the audience to unexpected places."

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jen Silverman (playwright) is a New York-based writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Her theatre work includes THE MOORS (Yale Repertory Theatre premiere, off-Broadway with The Playwrights Realm, Susan Smith Blackburn finalist); THE ROOMMATE (Actor's Theatre of Louisville Humana world premiere, multiple regional productions including South Coast Rep, SF Playhouse and Williamstown Theatre Festival, upcoming at Steppenwolf June 2018); Phoebe In Winter (Off-off Broadway with Clubbed Thumb); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth premiere); and All The Roads Home, a play with songs (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park premiere). Jen is a member of New Dramatists, a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, an affiliated artist with SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O'Neill, New

York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, Portland Center Stage, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She's a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, the Helen Merrill Award, an LMCC Fellowship, and the Yale Drama Series Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.

Eileen Phelan (director) Eileen moved to Maine after living for many years in New York City and Brooklyn. She produced the Obie Awards (the Off and Off-Off B'Way Theater Awards), for sixteen years, holds an MFA in Theater Direction from Brooklyn College, and was the Founding Artistic Director of Sightlines Theater Company from 1996-2006. Favorite directing projects include: Naomi Wallace's One Flea Spare and Lizzie Olesker's Dreaming Through History both at 78th Street Theater, Kia Corthron's Cage Rhythm at NY Theater Workshop's 4th Street Theater/Downstairs, Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House on the Mainstage at Brooklyn College. She was Assistant Director to Jo Bonney on the world premiere of Stop Kiss by Diana Son at The Public Theater. She has worked with numerous new playwrights through the NYU Graduate Playwriting Program. As a Marketing Director she worked at the Village Voice, and is currently the Marketing Director at Portland Stage. Thanks and love to Richard, Ryan and Clara.

Janice O'Rourke (actor) has appeared locally in Portland Stage Company's main stage productions of Out of Sterno, Iron Kisses, Lend Me a Tenor, Comedy of Errors and Blithe Spirit, as well as several Little Festival of the Unexpected productions and Affiliate Artists events. Most recently she appeared in Dramatic Repertory Company's production of Swimming with the Sharks and The Watson Intelligence. Janice designs and delivers leadership training and development for L.L.Bean, Inc. Thank you to Darren, Ryan and Conor for your important support and love.

Lisa Stathoplos (actor) Recently at PS Lisa originated the role of Marie in Monica Wood's Papermaker. Played Masha in Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as well as Aunt Kate/Frieda/Beatrice in Moss Hart's ACT ONE, both at Good Theater. For two seasons at Good Theater she portrayed Violet Weston in Letts' August: Osage County winner 2011 Portland PEER Award for Best Performance and, Maria Callas in Mcnally's Master Class. Lisa voiced Nina Locke, Sonia Tadic and Isabella, respectively, in PocketUniverse Productions audio dramas for Audible.com: Locke and Key, The Starling Project, and Masque of the Red Death, winners of two Audie Awards and the 2016 Gold Ogle Award for Best Horror or Fantasy Audio Drama at the Mark Time Awards, all directed by the incomparable William Dufris. Recently for PocketUniverse Productions and Audible.com she joined the original cast of The X-Files playing Diana Fowley and Caroline Ross. Lisa is honored to have been a part of Portland's vibrant professional theatre scene since 1983. Whenever and as often as possible, she is out dancing with Michael to any band with a good beat.

STUDIO SERIES

The Studio Series is an ongoing program consisting of performances hosted by Portland Stage featuring Affiliate Artists that are performed in the Studio Theater at Portland Stage. These performances range from readings of fledgling plays, more focused and rehearsed workshops, and even full productions.

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