The In-Between

Book & Lyrics by Zachary Leo Harris

Music by Sasha Bartol

After graduating college a semester late, Elijah James comes home without a clear next step. When his best friend lands him a long-term substitute teaching job, Elijah finds himself pulled toward something deeper than a paycheck and forced to reckon with the grief, distance, and unspoken history between him and his father Noah.

Set against the backdrop of a cast of four all navigating their own in-betweens...

After graduating college a semester late, Elijah James comes home without a clear next step. When his best friend lands him a long-term substitute teaching job, Elijah finds himself pulled toward something deeper than a paycheck and forced to reckon with the grief, distance, and unspoken history between him and his father Noah.

Set against the backdrop of a cast of four all navigating their own in-betweens, The In-Between is a contemporary musical about the season of becoming: when you are not who you were, but you are not yet who you are meant to be.

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The In-Between

Character Information

  • Elijah James
    A recent college graduate who has spent his whole life moving toward the next milestone, only to arrive and find the map has run out. He is wistful, curious, and quietly desperate, chasing a version of his mother he never got to know through the only thing he knows about her: she wanted to be a teacher. Elijah is learning, slowly and painfully, that becoming someone takes longer than he planned.
    Early 20s
    African American/Black
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Noah James
    A single father who measured his success by one thing: making sure his son never had to worry about anything. He kept the lights on, the fridge full, and his grief locked in the basement with everything else he could not face. Now that Elijah is home, Noah is out of excuses. Sensible, warm, and funnier than he realizes, he is finally learning that providing for someone and being present for them are not the same thing.
    Late 30s/Early 40s
    African American/Black
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man
  • Paige
    The first in her family to graduate college, Paige has spent her whole life being the person everyone else leans on. Brilliant, empathetic, and quietly exhausted, she is on the verge of medical school while holding together her family, her friends, and her own unraveling sense of self. Paige is the kind of person who makes everyone else's dreams possible before she allows herself to imagine her own.
    Early 20s
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American,
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American,
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American,
      Latinx/o/a or Hispanic,
      Middle Eastern, North African, or Arab American,
      Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,
      South Asian or South Asian American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Woman
  • Kyle
    Eclectic, warm, and an encyclopedia of cultural references nobody asked for, Kyle is the kind of person who makes a room feel easier just by being in it. He has known what he wanted to be since he was old enough to stack Legos, which makes the sudden loss of his dream internship hit harder than he lets on. Kyle is the heart of the friend group and the first to show up, even when he is the one who needs showing up for.
    Early 20s
    Any
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man

Development History

  • Workshop, Monumental Theatre Company, 2026
  • Reading, Emerging Artists Theatre, 2022

Awards

  • New Works Series
    Monumental Theatre Company
    Selection
    2026
  • New Works Reading
    Emerging Artists Theatre
    Selection
    2022
  • Summer Theatre Festival
    SheNYC
    Semi-Finalist
    2022