The Nothing That Is Something (formerly Locked In)

by J. Joseph Cox

[Still in Development]
From metal hooks, patients dangle in a purgatorial meat locker somewhere between the living and the dead. And it’s getting crowded. The bodies have been gathering ever since one brain-dead patient miraculously returned to the land of the living. As the staff at St. Anne’s Hospital desperately search for a reason for the patient’s return, Dr. Adilene Reynolds finds her life crumbling around...

[Still in Development]
From metal hooks, patients dangle in a purgatorial meat locker somewhere between the living and the dead. And it’s getting crowded. The bodies have been gathering ever since one brain-dead patient miraculously returned to the land of the living. As the staff at St. Anne’s Hospital desperately search for a reason for the patient’s return, Dr. Adilene Reynolds finds her life crumbling around her – the cause she has built her career on is taking a beating, her mother has become a shut-in, and her ex-boyfriend won’t stop loving her. Matters of faith and forgiveness, the brain and the heart take center stage in the quest to find an answer to the question: What’s it even mean to be alive?

The Nothing That Is Something is a play that takes place in two realms – the everyday world of St. Anne’s Hospital and a mysterious meat locker where beating heart cadavers try to make sense of a life that lead them to this place. The play searches that space outside of ourselves, between one body and another in an attempt to discover the communal soul that links every one of us together.

  • Inquire About Rights
  • Recommend
  • Download
  • Save to Reading List

The Nothing That Is Something (formerly Locked In)

Recommended by

  • Jan Rosenberg: The Nothing That Is Something (formerly Locked In)

    Haunting. Would love to see this staged!

    Haunting. Would love to see this staged!

  • Eugene O'Neill Theater Center: The Nothing That Is Something (formerly Locked In)

    It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend J. Joseph Cox and their play The Nothing That Is Something as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American...

    It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend J. Joseph Cox and their play The Nothing That Is Something as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American Theater.

  • Nick Malakhow: The Nothing That Is Something (formerly Locked In)

    Beautifully done and highly theatrical! Cox's use of a triptych of visual space is very effective, especially as the boundaries between each become fuzzy. The central themes around the definition of life and death, organ donation, family, bereavement, letting go, and being haunted by past events are woven together so intricately and specifically. Adilene is a compelling central character, as is the determined and grieving Sarah. The ramped up stakes at the end of Act 1 feel inevitable, but no less potent, and the surprising revelations about those in the meat locker are poignant, surprising...

    Beautifully done and highly theatrical! Cox's use of a triptych of visual space is very effective, especially as the boundaries between each become fuzzy. The central themes around the definition of life and death, organ donation, family, bereavement, letting go, and being haunted by past events are woven together so intricately and specifically. Adilene is a compelling central character, as is the determined and grieving Sarah. The ramped up stakes at the end of Act 1 feel inevitable, but no less potent, and the surprising revelations about those in the meat locker are poignant, surprising, and affecting.

View all 5 recommendations

Development History

  • Type Workshop, Organization The Blank Theatre. Los Angeles, CA, Year 2020
  • Type Reading, Organization Prop Theatre. Chicago, IL, Year 2019

Awards

  • National Playwrights Conference
    O'Neill Theatre Center
    Finalist
    2020