Playwright: Lynn Nottage
Rights: Dramatists
Cast Size: 3m, 4w (doubling)
Synopsis: In a new comedy from the Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright of Ruined, Lynn Nottage draws upon the screwball films of the 1930s to take a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is a seventy-year journey through the life of Vera Stark, a headstrong African-American maid and budding actress, and her tangled relationship with her boss, a white Hollywood star desperately grasping to hold on to her career. When circumstances collide and both women land roles in the same Southern epic, the story behind the cameras leaves Vera with a surprising and controversial legacy scholars will debate for years to come.
Ratings:
Language: 16+
Adult Content: 10+
Violence: All Ages
Pay Attention to: This play takes place in 3 time periods: 1933, 1973, and 2003. The comic sensibilities should be reflected with each time period.
Act 2 Scene 1, a movie clip is shown of the actors performing in The Belle of New Orleans. The Play ends with audio from the film and then the actors in the midst of filming the movie.
For the final act of the play please visit http://www.meetverastark.com and http://bythewaymeetverastark.com.
Flexibility: All Changes must be approved in advance.
Production Notes: Each actor, except for Vera Stark, Gloria Mitchell, and Peter Rhys-Davies play multiple characters.
Accents are used in the show. The characters Gloria, Lottie and Peter must be able to sing.
Multiple locations are needed: Gloria’s Living Room, Bachelorette Apartment, Studio Backlot, Southern Boudoir, The Brad Donovan Show
Photography from films and Vera’s life are needed.
Vera and Gloria are 60 years old in the second act.