Sanctuary

What happens if your significant other commits to veganism and expects you to do the same?

Full-length | 2F/2M

• A staged reading of a radio version of this play was presented at the Compassionate Arts Festival. Listen to it here.

Synopsis

RICHARD and LISA have retired early to a small Oregon town with the hope of reinventing themselves. But an injured pet, a rat in the attic, and LISA's newfound veganism are getting in the way of happily ever after.

LISA offers their guest studio to her new animal-activist friend MEG and decides to celebrate Thanksgiving sans turkey. RICHARD, in the hopes of forcing LISA to capitulate, invites their exterminator CHARLEY to Thanksgiving dinner. Tensions over food, animals, and LISA’s accidental killing of a neighborhood squirrel push her over the edge, and she cuts herself.

At the hospital, LISA asks RICHARD to move out of the house and into the studio. MEG ends up living with LISA. RICHARD tries unsuccessfully to “undo” everything by conjuring up the dead squirrel. In his exile, he realizes he needs to move forward—and evolve—if he hopes to win his wife back. MEG, sensing her time with the couple is coming to end, moves on.

Download a sample