Gorgeous

Summary:
Set in an open garage in suburban Georgia, a young Asian-American woman named Jenny goes head-to-head with Bernie, who seems more like a tornado than a woman, in an all-out brawl after the death of Bill, an old, miserable, asshole-turned-Saint. The item in question? Bill's English bulldog Gorgeous. This dramedy set in the not-so-romanticized South asks: who gets to change their story?

History of the...

Summary:
Set in an open garage in suburban Georgia, a young Asian-American woman named Jenny goes head-to-head with Bernie, who seems more like a tornado than a woman, in an all-out brawl after the death of Bill, an old, miserable, asshole-turned-Saint. The item in question? Bill's English bulldog Gorgeous. This dramedy set in the not-so-romanticized South asks: who gets to change their story?

History of the piece:
2016: Workshop/Reading at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle, WA)
2018: Workshop/Reading with Theatre Battery (Kent, WA)

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Gorgeous

Recommended by

  • Shaun Leisher: Gorgeous

    A wonderful two-hander featuring characters that begin totally at odds before finding things that connect them. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with these two women even when they are at their worst. This is a play about people getting what is owed to them. It's a play about people that have done fucked up things in the past and whether or not they can really change. This play is also about the prejudice faced by Asian Americans. I loved this play and hope that it gets produced all over.

    A wonderful two-hander featuring characters that begin totally at odds before finding things that connect them. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with these two women even when they are at their worst. This is a play about people getting what is owed to them. It's a play about people that have done fucked up things in the past and whether or not they can really change. This play is also about the prejudice faced by Asian Americans. I loved this play and hope that it gets produced all over.

  • Aysha Zackria: Gorgeous

    A really insightful look into the experience of East Asian Americans in suburbia. Fast paced and witty. Really fun for dog lovers and man haters

    A really insightful look into the experience of East Asian Americans in suburbia. Fast paced and witty. Really fun for dog lovers and man haters

  • Nick Malakhow: Gorgeous

    An awesome two-hander that managers to be propulsive, funny, nuanced, and delicate in its exploration of its characters all at once. Keiko has crafted two amazing roles in Jenny and Bernie and uses them to explore, with an intersectional lens looking at gender and race, grief and growth and self-actualization and the ways we cannot disentangle our identities from our relationships with others. Gorgeous the dog is a perfect central extended metaphor to explore the journey of these two women and the lingering presence of a troubling man in their lives. The monologues within this are...

    An awesome two-hander that managers to be propulsive, funny, nuanced, and delicate in its exploration of its characters all at once. Keiko has crafted two amazing roles in Jenny and Bernie and uses them to explore, with an intersectional lens looking at gender and race, grief and growth and self-actualization and the ways we cannot disentangle our identities from our relationships with others. Gorgeous the dog is a perfect central extended metaphor to explore the journey of these two women and the lingering presence of a troubling man in their lives. The monologues within this are architectural marvels!

JENNY IKEDA, 30-ish, Japanese-American or mixed race. She works as a care-taker for the sick and/or elderly. Moonlights as a dog trainer and handler.

BERNIE DWYER, much older than JENNY. Never held a job for longer than a few months. Jack of all trades, master of none. A tornado of a woman.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Theater Battery, Year 2018
  • Type Residency, Organization Seattle Repertory Theatre, Year 2017

Production History

  • Type Workshop, Organization Theatre Battery, Year 2018
  • Type Workshop, Organization Seattle Repertory Theatre, Year 2017

Awards

  • Princess Grace Award
    Princess Grace Foundation
    Semi-Finalist
    2019
  • Leah Ryan Fund
    Leah Ryan Fund
    Finalist
    2019