A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Roz and Ray

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 1m

Karen Hartman

Set in San Diego, this gripping, time-bending story sheds light on a little-known chapter in medical history during the onset of the AIDS crisis.

Roz and Ray

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 1m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

Set in San Diego, this gripping, time-bending story sheds light on a little-known chapter in medical history during the onset of the AIDS crisis. While navigating through the complexities of the medical establishment, Roz and Ray tells a profound story of love, trust and sacrifice that grapples with the messy process of healing the human heart.

Ray is a devoted single parent with one goal: keep his twin hemophiliac sons alive. In 1976, this means endless hospital visits, rigorous testing and frequent blood transfusions. Then Ray meets Roz – a brilliant doctor who offers a cutting-edge treatment for his boys – and everything clicks. Until they both discover the miracle treatment may lead to very dangerous results.

History
Roz and Ray premiered at Seattle Repertory Theatre on October 14, 2016. Directed by Chay Yew, the production featured Ellen McLaughlin and Teagle F. Bougere. The play co-premiered at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago on November 11, 2016. Directed by Yew, the production featured Mary Beth Fisher and James Vincent Meredith.
Keywords
Performing Groups
ROZ – Fiftyish, playing as young as late thirties. Warm and direct. She usually wears a lab coat. Caucasian. From Ohio.
RAY – Fortyish, playing as young as late twenties. Capable of great love and great rage. Latino, African-American, or Caucasian. From Texas. If the actor playing Ray is Latino, Ray’s last name is pronounced Léon.
  • Setting Medical and home locations in San Diego, CA. 1976-1987 and 1991.
  • Duration 90 minutes

Media

“Surprisingly funny and uplifting... transfused with courage and kindness.” – DC Theatre Scene

“Brilliantly captures the confusion, and the moral ambiguity, about life on the edge of biomedicine.” – Forbes

“Finely handled... Hartman lays out in accessible and compassionate fashion the missteps of the medical profession, as hemophiliacs began dying along with gay men and others stricken by the disease. Hers is not an indictment of medical malfeasance, it seems, as much as an account of the cascade of institutional errors that led doctors in failing directions before they found the right one.” – Washington Post

“Beautiful and significant... heartbreaking... compelling... moves quickly and flows gently.” – Maryland Theatre Guide

Licensing & Materials

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

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Authors

Karen Hartman

Karen Hartman

Karen Hartman is a finalist for the 2023 international Susan Smith Blackburn prize. In 2022, her work launched VOLT at 59e59 Theaters, an unprecedented festival of three simultaneous off-Broadway premieres by a single author: New Golden Age (Primary Stages); The Lucky Star (T ...

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