The Roommate

by Jen Silverman

Sharon, in her mid-fifties, is recently divorced and needs a roommate to share her Iowa home. Robyn, also in her mid-fifties, needs a place to hide and a chance to start over. But as Sharon begins to uncover Robyn's secrets, they encourage her own deep-seated desire to transform her life completely. A dark comedy about what it takes to re-route your life - and what happens when the wheels come off.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, LGBT, Read For School

112 pages, Paperback

Published December 21, 2017

About the author

Jen Silverman 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); 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. Jen has a two-book deal with Random House for a collection of stories (The Island Dwellers, pub date May 1, 2018) and a novel. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.

Reviews

[Doug]

This is now the third play by this playwright I've read, and while I didn't particularly like the other two, I was intrigued by this - as it's just been announced for Broadway come August, in a production starring Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow (making her 1st Bway appearance in a decade).

It's minor fluff, about a milquetoast Iowa hausfrau, who rents a room to a brash woman from the Bronx, who turns out to be a (spoiler alert!) lesbian con woman. There are a few mild chuckles, but the whole set-up doesn't make much sense, and it goes through typical sitcom shenanigans, before a lackluster conclusion. Meh.

PS .... I know it's difficult for women of a certain age to find appropriate roles in plays - but here the two characters are supposed to be 54 and 56 respectively. La Lupone is 75 and Mad Mia is pushing 80, so they are both at least 20+ years too old for the parts! Meow!

[Scott]

A unique and intriguing character study. It goes to daring and unexpected places.

[Jason]

Oh, this one did not go where I thought it would! A story that is awkward, funny, tense and deeply moving all at the same time. A two hander for women of a certain age, this play is a deep look at aging, family and journey to self. Really quite extraordinary.

[Nick K]

I loved this play. I would love to see it live. I wish I had just a fraction of Jen Silverman's brilliance.

[Julissa Ramirez]

i truly enjoyed the book. it was a nice play to try and dissect like trying to understand the relationship dynamic and to see how the characters develop their arc was entertaining. i will say that when i started reading i really kept on getting pulled back and wanting to continue the play. overall i do want to see this play irl to fully grasp it!

[Lucy]

oh my gosh????

[sina]

amazing play on paper and stage. could reread this countless times and still have a blast. i really hope that the 2 nice ladies who sat next to me on broadway took my advice and went to see sarah snook in the picture of dorian gray.

[Jordan Muschler]

My least favorite Jen Silverman play, but she's batting pretty high with The Moors and Collective Rage. The midlife crisis moments felt a little too cute to be believed and the ending twist felt predictable - plus, the way the narrative wraps itself up feels a little cheap and out of character.

Nevertheless - the characters are both interesting, and I love what is behind this play - a desire to empathize with the isolated people who buy the cons of internet-era scam artists. A lonely existence is something hard to capture, and Silverman captures it for both of the very different women in different ways.

[Grace Leneghan]

While I found the plot a little predictable, Jen always writes such beautifully colorful female characters. A perfect play to explore for 40-60 year old actresses with witty, realistic dialogue.

[Kynzee]

So I loved that this book focused on a relationship between two older women. I feel like we don’t see that a lot in literature and it’s nice to see a book that really focuses on that relationship and we get to see that explored. I loved the dynamic between the two characters it felt very fluid. It felt very natural. Having said that I do like that they were gay. I saw hints of it and I was like no I’m making that up, but then it came into fruition and highly highly recommend this play! Definitely going to pull monologues and a scene or two from this!

[Sara Alanis]

4/5 ⭐️

I’m in love with Jen Silverman and everything they’ve ever written. Still, I was sort of expecting more out of this play. I mean, I loved the dialogue but I kept waiting for the play to turn into something more bizarre. I think I was just a little underwhelmed. It’s still an amazing play and I would fully recommend it.

[Luke Reynolds]

Taut and electric, Jen Silverman's The Roommate brings two older women together in an Iowa City townhome and lets them discover the deepest secrets about each other, resulting in illicit trades, divulged truths, and unfortunate regrets.

[Tom Elliott]

Easy to see why this play is getting produced in so many theaters, great tour de force for two middle-aged female actors that feels timely. But I suspect much of the humor does not translate well on the page.

[Chambers Stevens]

If you are a middle age actress you need to do this play!!

[Denise]

It would be interesting to see.

[Carol]

Wonderful script with two engaging and wildly different characters. Funny, heart-breaking and real. I can't wait to see this on stage!

[Claire]

Yes midlife crisis play that actually goes hard!!

[Dani Pike]

A great, short, touching play. I am becoming a big Jen Silverman fan- she is funny and real and doesn’t over complicate things- and it always resonates.

[Paris Herbert-Taylor]

A great play that really flowed. So much emotion for a two-hander

[Craig]

Great dislogue with an important message about living with intent.

[Alexa Yohey]

Went through and read a week after seeing Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone on broadway. Highlighted my favorite lines 💕

[Esther Gross]

Very entertaining short play. The ending left me on my hunger a bit, but otherwise really well written and it made me excited to watch it

[Marc]

Very funny...would be fun to see performed...

[sam lucas]

ngl this is probably my near future

[Kit Gladieux]

jen silverman the playwright you are… just so so so smart

[Jamy]

I saw this play on Broadway and enjoyed it! First time I read a script from a show that I have seen and I enjoyed the experience!

[steph s]

there is great liberty in being bad!!!!!!

[Jenn]

Interesting.

[Reagan]

A really interesting dive into characters and the relationship of two complete opposites, of women finding their power in different ways, and the complexity of societal pressure placed onto women. Not a ton "happens" per say but I really found myself immersed in the world of the characters

[Kristy]

I LOVE THIS PLAY SO MUCH

With my whole, Iowan, middle-aged lady heart. ♥️