Outside Job

In a county where there seems to be no escape and in a community where men refuse to take responsibility for themselves and their families, mother Alice has the double burden of surviving while keeping her family intact. Personal safety and happiness are unattainable luxuries. But daughter Nicole is too foolish to realize this and cannot be resigned to mere survival. She attempts a new identity as someone who is...

In a county where there seems to be no escape and in a community where men refuse to take responsibility for themselves and their families, mother Alice has the double burden of surviving while keeping her family intact. Personal safety and happiness are unattainable luxuries. But daughter Nicole is too foolish to realize this and cannot be resigned to mere survival. She attempts a new identity as someone who is happy and loved only to have her dreams dismantled by the cynicism of her sister Tabitha and the actions of their father Jerry. The voiceless heater repairman Guy becomes a target of fantasies, ignorance, and hate as the house is under surveillance by legal authorities. Alice tries to smooth out conflict as Jerry spirals out of control in this dark tale of family dysfunction.
This play received a reading Chicago in the summer of 2017. It was recommended by Kitchen Dog Theater as a finalist for its 2019 New Works Festival in Dallas, Texas.

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Outside Job

Recommended by

  • Kitchen Dog Theater: Outside Job

    We are pleased to support this play! It was a Finalist for the 2019 New Works Festival at Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Texas.

    We are pleased to support this play! It was a Finalist for the 2019 New Works Festival at Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Texas.

CAST OF CHARACTERS 3 W, 2 M
NICOLE Early 20s; convenience
store employee.
TABITHA Late 20s; Nicole's unemployed sister.
JERRY Early 50s; Nicole and Tabitha's father;
illicit cyber-life.
ALICE 50 years old; Jerry's wife; Nicole and
Tabitha's mother; works shift-work in a
canning factory.
GUY 28 years old; works for a heating
company

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Chicago Dramatists, Year 2017