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: Lipstick Lobotomy by Krista Knight
    “

    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.

    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: Lipstick Lobotomy by Krista Knight
    “

    Fascinating and terrifying. Lovely characters.

    Fascinating and terrifying. Lovely characters.

    ”
  • Noel VanDenBosch: Lipstick Lobotomy by Krista Knight
    “

    Lipstick Lobotomy is both tender and frightening. Two great roles for female actors to dive into that explore class, true friendship, and mental health.

    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:
Ginny
Rosemary
Reggie/Rose/Female Patient 1/Opera Singer
Dotty/Sue/Female Patient 4
Dr. Berman/ Joe Jr./ Carl / Female Patient 2
Dick/Jack/ Stuie/Dr. Freeman/ Female Patient 3
  • 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:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Virginia Harrison Hamann (Ginny)
    Judgmental and imploring. Half-divorced. Crushingly unhappy. Before her own cingulotomy.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • 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:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Dr. Berman
    Ginny’s good-natured, jovial, pipe smoking psychiatrist at the Institute.
    Double cast with JFK.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      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:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Dick
    A young attractive orderly at the Institute who is in love with Ginny.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (Rose)
    Rosemary’s exasperated high society mother experiencing a menopausal mid-life crisis.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Joseph Kennedy, Jr (Joe Jr)
    Rosemary’s serious quarterback older brother and the first born of the Kennedy children.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      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:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Regina T. Harrison (Reggie)
    Ginny and Stuie’s militantly un-self-examining mother.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      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:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      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:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      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:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male

Development History

  • Workshop, Juilliard ,

Awards

  • Kilroys List
    The Kilroys
  • Finalist
    Bay Area Playwrights Festival