Backing Track by R. Eric Thomas

The novelist Alexander Chee recently wrote “the only place I experience grief lately is at karaoke. The song someone else is singing that catches me off guard and all of the losses of the last few years sneak in to say hi.” When I read his words, months after a weeklong workshop of Backing Track, my play on falling in love while grieving, gentrification, and karaoke, I had to catch my breath. It was as if he...
The novelist Alexander Chee recently wrote “the only place I experience grief lately is at karaoke. The song someone else is singing that catches me off guard and all of the losses of the last few years sneak in to say hi.” When I read his words, months after a weeklong workshop of Backing Track, my play on falling in love while grieving, gentrification, and karaoke, I had to catch my breath. It was as if he and I, though strangers, were suddenly in the same dark bar, lit only by a bright monitor with words crawling up the screen. Or, as Roberta Flack sings, like he was “singing my life with his words.” The same feeling--intimacy, surprise, the mix of laughter and loss--waits for readers and audience members in Backing Track.
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Backing Track

Recommended by

  • Shaun Leisher:
    30 Jul. 2023
    “ A fantastic romantic comedy. ”
  • Peter Fenton:
    15 Mar. 2023
    “ This play is deep, clever, funny, and at the heart of it all—very human. I particularly loved the intertwining of storylines related to new life, grief, and love against the backdrop of gentrification and the evolution of this particular neighborhood. Thomas uses this imagery of gentrification as it intrudes into many aspects of life in the here and now to great effect. I wish I could have seen its run at the Arden! ”

Character Information

  • Avery
    Mid-to-late 30s,
    Black
    ,
    Man
    A performer on a cruise ship. A single gay man with a lot of defenses up and a profound lack of community. Chance are he'll become his mother one day.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Gender: 
      Male, Non-binary
  • Mel
    Mid-to-late 60s,
    Black
    ,
    woman
    A toll booth attendant, a widow, a lesbian, a mom to Avery and Jessica. Can come off as irascible but she's rarely serious about it. All things considered, she's pretty happy. She doesn't need to be bothered with a lot of nonsense.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      50s, 60s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary
  • Abraham
    Mid-30s,
    Vietnamese-American
    ,
    Man
    A real estate developer in over his head. At heart he's an earnest romantic.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American
    • Gender: 
      Male, Non-binary
  • Jessica
    Early 30s,
    Black
    ,
    woman
    A technical writer. An American living in Canada. A pregnant person trying to figure out how to build a new world.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary
  • Esther
    Early 30s,
    Vietnamese-American
    ,
    woman
    Mel's neighbor. Abraham's sister. The president of the neighborhood association (self-appointed). A woman who has very strong desires to see change in the area.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Asian, Pacific Islander, or Asian American
    • Gender: 
      Female, Non-binary
  • Rene
    Late 20s/30s,
    A Canadian Person of Color
    ,
    Man
    Mel's son-in-law, husband to Jessica. An eager, youthful climate change activist. A natural salesman. An outsider at times.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any actor of color
    • Gender: 
      Male, Non-binary

Development History

  • Commission
    ,
    Arden Theatre
    ,
    2019

Production History