ADULTS (a play for radio & stage)

In the wake of their mother's death, two middle-aged sisters navigate feelings, friendship, and funeral logistics. Like anyone who has loved, lost, and/or "had it up to here" with family, this dramedy asks: "Who are you supposed to call when someone dies?" "Was it my fault?" "Are you wearing my shirt again?!"

Overachiever Maggie––who has just arrived expecting a normal visit––pivots into planning mode, making...

In the wake of their mother's death, two middle-aged sisters navigate feelings, friendship, and funeral logistics. Like anyone who has loved, lost, and/or "had it up to here" with family, this dramedy asks: "Who are you supposed to call when someone dies?" "Was it my fault?" "Are you wearing my shirt again?!"

Overachiever Maggie––who has just arrived expecting a normal visit––pivots into planning mode, making breakfast and to-do lists at breakneck speed. Her younger sister, by contrast, slows to a catatonic halt. (Bookish Jo is not afraid to feel her feelings––and as Mom's primary caretaker, she has a lot of them!) In real-time and through flashbacks, the sisters grapple with their relationship with each other, their larger-than-life mother, and themselves. Will the bond that's tethered them since childhood survive the seismic shift?

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ADULTS (a play for radio & stage)

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  • Talya Kingston: ADULTS (a play for radio & stage)

    A heart-felt and truthful depiction of two sisters relationship with each other and with their mother through time taking them to the moment when she is dead upstairs and they don't know what to do next. The playwrights voice is witty and poetic in equal measures.

    A heart-felt and truthful depiction of two sisters relationship with each other and with their mother through time taking them to the moment when she is dead upstairs and they don't know what to do next. The playwrights voice is witty and poetic in equal measures.

  • Suzanne Delle: ADULTS (a play for radio & stage)

    What a great adjustment from the theatrical version of ADULTS to make it an audio experience. The playwright really understands the challenges of radio plays and how they can tell the same story in new ways.

    What a great adjustment from the theatrical version of ADULTS to make it an audio experience. The playwright really understands the challenges of radio plays and how they can tell the same story in new ways.

ADULTS was initially written as a stage-play for two actors in their 50s or 60s, who play MAGGIE and JO at various ages. The radio-play can be cast either with two actors playing MAGGIE and JO at all ages, or with the roles split between age-specific actors, as outlined below. The stage play should only be cast with two actors.


MAGGIE, 50s or 60s, a little bit older than JO.


JO, 50s or 60s, a little bit younger than MAGGIE.


YOUNG MAGGIE, age 17, then mid 20s.



YOUNG JO, age 14, then early 20s. also plays ALLY'S VOICEMAIL.


KID MAGGIE, age 11.


KID JO, age 8.


WOMAN OVER 35, plays WOMAN'S VOICE, MINDFULNESS APP, and VOICEMAIL MENU.


Characters can be any race/ethnicity, and do not have to be the same as each other because the text makes their relationship clear.