Lipstick Lobotomy by Krista Knight

LIPSTICK LOBOTOMY imagines a friendship between JFK’s little sister Rosemary Kennedy and the playwright’s great aunt Ginny at an exclusive high-end sanitarium for women in the fall of 1941. The women undergo the peculiar cutting-edge treatments on offer by a society desperate to find the cure for womanhood. When Rosemary is selected by the famous surgeon Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman II for an exciting new...
LIPSTICK LOBOTOMY imagines a friendship between JFK’s little sister Rosemary Kennedy and the playwright’s great aunt Ginny at an exclusive high-end sanitarium for women in the fall of 1941. The women undergo the peculiar cutting-edge treatments on offer by a society desperate to find the cure for womanhood. When Rosemary is selected by the famous surgeon Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman II for an exciting new procedure, Ginny will do everything in her power to take control of her own future.
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Lipstick Lobotomy

Recommended by

  • Maggie Blair Smith:
    23 Apr. 2023
    “ I had the pleasure of seeing this performed in Chicago right before the pandemic. It’s still one of my favorite plays that I’ve seen here. ”
  • Shelby Seeley:
    2 Jan. 2023
    “ Fascinating and terrifying. Lovely characters. ”
  • Noel VanDenBosch:
    28 Nov. 2020
    “ Lipstick Lobotomy is both tender and frightening. Two great roles for female actors to dive into that explore class, true friendship, and mental health. ”
View all 6 recommendations

Character Information

For a cast of 6 to 13+
***
Suggested doubling for a cast of 6 (4W, 2M):
Ginny
Rosemary
Dotty/Sue/Female patient
Reggie/Rose/Female patient
Dr. Berman/ Joe Jr./ Carl/Dick
Jack/Dr. Freeman/Stuie

  • Rose Marie Kennedy (Rosemary)
    The charming, sociable, and dim-witted disabilutante little sister of JFK. A child-like joy and an occasionally violent disposition. The most fun person in any room. Quick to laugh and mischievous. Lots of energy. An excellent host if capable of cruelty. Pre-lobotomy.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Virginia Harrison Hamann (Ginny)
    Judgmental and imploring. Half-divorced. Crushingly unhappy. Before her own cingulotomy.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Henry Stuart Harrison (Stuie, Stu Boy)
    Ginny’s successful and highly competent older brother. Contentious. Conscientious. Protective of Ginny. Intellectual and analytical. Very dry, formal and charming. Round owl glasses.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Suzanne Foster Brookhart (Sue)
    Stuart’s gregarious future fiancé. A young woman about town to whom everything comes naturally. Likes and well-liked. The bane of most wait-staffs. Thinks she’s psychic.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Carl Hamann
    Ginny’s estranged doctor/ husband. Submissive. Will end up leaving Ginny for a nurse on the Lakeside Unit hospital ship during the war.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (Rose)
    Rosemary’s exasperated high society mother experiencing a menopausal mid-life crisis.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      50s, 60s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Regina T. Harrison (Reggie)
    Ginny and Stuie’s militantly un-self-examining mother.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      50s, 60s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Joseph Kennedy, Jr (Joe Jr)
    Rosemary’s serious quarterback older brother and the first born of the Kennedy children.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK, Jack)
    Rosemary’s fun loving, brilliant and care-free, poon-hound older brother and future 35th president of the United States.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman II
    A rock star neurologist slash unlicensed but actively practicing psychosurgeon. An enthusiast of science. A showman. Cut off sleeves and George Clooney-esque facial hair.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Dr. Berman
    Ginny’s good-natured, jovial, pipe smoking psychiatrist at the Institute.
    Double cast with JFK.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Dotty
    Rosemary Kennedy’s paid companion. Irish Catholic and not at all glamorous or interesting. She’s trying to get through the day.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Any adult age
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Dick
    A young attractive orderly at the Institute who is in love with Ginny.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male

Development History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Juilliard

Awards

Finalist
,
Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Kilroys List
,
The Kilroys