1812 Productions will present the Philadelphia Premiere of Jen Silverman's acclaimed dark comedy The Roommate. Directed by Harriet Power, The Roommate stars renowned Philadelphia performers Grace Gonglewski and Jennifer Childs. Longtime friends and artistic collaborators, Gonglewski and Childs have been fixtures on Philadelphia stages for over 20 years, The Roommate will be their first appearance onstage together since 2006. The Roommate will play September 26 thru October 20, 2019. Opening Night will be Wednesday, October 2nd at 7:00pm. Tickets and information are available at www.1812productions.org or at 215-592-9560.
The Roommate is the story of Sharon and Robyn, two women in their mid-fifties, sharing a house in Iowa City. Sharon, played by Childs, is recently divorced and, facing an empty nest, takes in a roommate to help make ends meet. Robyn, played by Gonglewski, is on the run from a wild past-some of which may just show up on Sharon's doorstep. Part Odd Couple, part Breaking Bad,The Roommate is a crafty and funny dive into what it takes to reroute your life from the point of view of two women who have had enough of being set aside. The Roommate was originally produced at The Humana Theatre Festival in 2015 and has gone on to great commercial and critical success, playing stages across the country. Jen Silverman, a bold new voice in American theatre says of writing The Roommate, "When I go to the theatre, I rarely see any roles for women of that age range that are not supporting roles. When I do see older women onstage, or women in their 50s or 60s onstage, those women are generally just there; the play's actually about younger people but those women are there to, you know, have a couple of jokes or have a couple of jokes made about them. So I really wanted to write a play for badass women in their 50s... there is a kind of energy, a kind of concentration that happens when they are the two players on that stage and they have all that agency and all that power."Videos