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The Quality of Life

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  2w, 2m

Jane Anderson

"Playwright Jane Anderson explores a myriad of ethical, religious, and moral beliefs, as well as (some would say) personal rights issues concerning life and death in her remarkable and completely engrossing new play, The Quality of Life." - TheaterMania

The Quality of Life

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 2m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Not Applicable
  • Suggested Use
    • Monologues
    • Scene Work
    • Competition or Audition Material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! 2007 LA Drama Critics Circle Ted Schmitt Award, Outstanding New Play
    Winner! 2008 Ovation Award, Best New Play
    Nominee! 2013 Jeff Award, Best Production of a Play

Details

Summary
From award-winning writer Jane Anderson (The Baby Dance, Looking for Normal) comes this "magnetic work of theater" (The San Francisco Chronicle) filled with compassion, honesty and humor. Dinah and Bill, a devout, church-going couple from the Midwest are struggling to keep their lives intact after the loss of their daughter. Dinah is compelled to reconnect with her left-leaning cousins in Northern California who're going through their own trials. Jeannette and Neil have lost their home to a wildfire and Neil has cancer. However they seem to have accepted their situation with astounding good humor, living in a yurt on their burn site and celebrating life with hits of pot and glasses of good red wine. Bill and Dinah are both moved and perplexed by their cousins' remarkable equanimity. But their sympathy turns to rage when they find out that Jeannette is planning to take her own life to avoid a life of grief without her beloved Neil.
History

The Quality of Life was first presented at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in October 2007. It was directed by the author.

Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
  • Setting Ohio & the Berkeley Hills in Northern California.
  • Additional Features Not Applicable
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Strong Language

Media

REVIEWS

"Set in the Berkeley hills after a major fire, The Quality of Life introduces Jeannette, an earthy, high-spirited woman. Jeannette's husband, Neil , is dying of cancer. When her cousin Dinah from Ohio comes for a visit with her husband, Bill, the two couples - one solidly on the left, the other resolute in their conservative Christian beliefs - are made to confront their huge dissimilarities" - The San Francisco Chronicle, Read More

"Playwright Jane Anderson explores a myriad of ethical, religious, and moral beliefs, as well as (some would say) personal rights issues concerning life and death in her remarkable and completely engrossing new play, The Quality of Life." - TheaterMania, Read More

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

    Please submit a license request to determine availability.

Scripts

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Authors

Jane Anderson

Jane Anderson

Jane Anderson is an Emmy Award-winning writer and director for theatre, film and television.

Plays include: Mother of the Maid, The Baby Dance, Baby Dance: Mixed, Defying Gravity, Looking for Normal, The Quality of Life, The Escort, Lynette at 3AM, Food & Shelter and The Last ...

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