An Empty Room

[FULL LENGTH] Over the course of one revelatory afternoon, two deaths bring two generations of a family together in the same kitchen – thirty years apart. In the 1950’s Agatha and Joseph return home from suffering a stillbirth, and their sister-in-law Loretta is desperate to help. In the 1980’s their adult children Connie, Hank, Patty, and Connie’s husband Stephen gather for Agatha’s funeral, but with very...

[FULL LENGTH] Over the course of one revelatory afternoon, two deaths bring two generations of a family together in the same kitchen – thirty years apart. In the 1950’s Agatha and Joseph return home from suffering a stillbirth, and their sister-in-law Loretta is desperate to help. In the 1980’s their adult children Connie, Hank, Patty, and Connie’s husband Stephen gather for Agatha’s funeral, but with very different ideas of who she was and how she should be remembered. Past and future walk amongst each other as marriages are shaken, forbidden yearnings are revealed, and the reverberations are felt through time and space. How well do we ever really know our parents, our siblings, our spouses, ourselves? A play that explores themes of identity, family, and memory - and how they can be both a prison and a refuge.

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An Empty Room

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  • Kathy Rasmussen: An Empty Room

    The layering and perspectives in this piece are intriguing. I was immediately invested in discovering the characters and their relationships to each other. Ms. Wilcox made me feel like I was in the room with this special family, sharing their grief. This was so well written, I was disappointed it was over!

    The layering and perspectives in this piece are intriguing. I was immediately invested in discovering the characters and their relationships to each other. Ms. Wilcox made me feel like I was in the room with this special family, sharing their grief. This was so well written, I was disappointed it was over!

  • Philip Kaplan: An Empty Room

    An Empty Room is a touching play about two generations of a family, each coming to grips with a death. The trick is that both generations are shown onstage in different eras, simultaneously. This is a great technique that subtly shows connections between the two eras, and the two generations. The characters are surprising and three dimensional, and the play has pointed observations about what has changed between 1950 and 1980. It is intricately plotted, but feels effortless.

    An Empty Room is a touching play about two generations of a family, each coming to grips with a death. The trick is that both generations are shown onstage in different eras, simultaneously. This is a great technique that subtly shows connections between the two eras, and the two generations. The characters are surprising and three dimensional, and the play has pointed observations about what has changed between 1950 and 1980. It is intricately plotted, but feels effortless.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization The Drawing Board, Year 2025

Awards

  • Charles M. Getchell New Play Award
    SETC
    Finalist
    2026
  • Second Rounder (top 20%)
    Austin Film Festival Script Competition
    2025