Dream House by Cassie M. Seinuk

FULL LENGTH - Life has been relatively easy for West, a 27 year old RISD graduate, who has just spent the past seven years of his life working as a customer service rep at an online banking company, that is until a collapse at work and subsequent diagnosis puts an expiration date on West’s life. Shocked by the news, West quits his job and moves back to semi-rural North Hampton, Massachusetts, back to his...
FULL LENGTH - Life has been relatively easy for West, a 27 year old RISD graduate, who has just spent the past seven years of his life working as a customer service rep at an online banking company, that is until a collapse at work and subsequent diagnosis puts an expiration date on West’s life. Shocked by the news, West quits his job and moves back to semi-rural North Hampton, Massachusetts, back to his estranged mother’s home. West enlists the help of his childhood, stoner-chick, friend Sammy, and sets out to build the tree house of his dreams, the one he started with his missing father, the first project in a slew of unfinished projects before time runs out. Excited about her son’s return, but struck with deep financial debt, Elyse, West’s mother, seeks guidance from her hippie Rabbi sister Diane, as they try to unearth the mystery behind West’s behavior, hoping he could bring the relief she needs. But when West’s symptoms grow too severe and expose his secret, he must not only face his devastated mother, but her secrets as well.
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Dream House

Recommended by

  • Matt Harmon:
    28 May. 2020
    “ Seinuk has a profound ability to make the audience invest so wholly in her characters. Everything about this play is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful. As we watch West grapple with what he has left unfinished and unknown, we reflect on our own experiences and, after the lights go down, resolve to set things right. Theaters everywhere should be producing Seinuk's work, for its depiction of the human spirit and its lessons audiences can take away. ”
  • Kevin Cirone:
    1 Jun. 2017
    “ Poignant trip into the mind of someone struggling with his life's purpose and the things that have gotten in the way. Participated as part of New Repertory Theatre's Next Voices program and would love to see it get on its feet in the future. ”
  • Bridget O'Leary:
    16 Aug. 2016
    “ This play was developed as part of New Repertory Theatre's Next Voices program. It is a beautiful, complex look at the pursuit of happiness and the things that get in the way from us being who we want to be. The play is both heart breaking and very funny. I love the use of the "greek chorus" throughout the play. Cassie is a terrific writer who investigates inner demons, fear and identity. This play encompasses all of those things. ”

Character Information

This play has Chorus. Everyone except West is in the Chorus. CHORUS A (Elyse), B (Diane), D (Joe), and E (Sammy). They are sometimes fluid. Sometimes sharp. Sometimes Mass Effect. Sometimes real. CHORUS D, unless otherwise described, should be a projection of West's father Joe, hippie and woodsy and free.

  • West
    27,
    Jewish
    ,
    Male
    Studied design but got cozy in a day job, on the quiet side, introspective, good looking but maybe not aware of it. He should be in his physical peek. When WEST says nothing he says a lot in the nothing.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Elyse
    50s,
    Jewish
    ,
    Female
    WEST's mom. She's overbearing, knows it, but denies it. Holds a secret too big for her which can make her a bit dizzy
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      50s, 60s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Diane
    40s-50s,
    Jewish
    Elyse's younger sister, and West's "Aunt Diane." A hip Lesbian renewal Rabbi. A bit of a meddler.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s, 50s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Sammy
    27,
    Any
    ,
    Female
    West's best and oldest friend, a stoner, joker, looking for more but you'd never know it. Should be ethnically ambiguous.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s, 30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any actor of color
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Doctor/Joe
    30s-40s,
    Could be related to West
    ,
    Male
    DOCTOR: Thinks he has a good sense of humor despite the bleak news he often has to give.
    JOE: West's father. He carries himself with the spirit of a sprite twenty something, he's excited by life, but also distracted. He appears as West would remember him. He's a woodsy hippy type.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s, 50s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    The Nora Theatre Company
    ,
    2018
  • Reading
    ,
    Interim Writers Accomplice Writers' Group
    ,
    2014
  • Reading
    ,
    Sanctuary Playwrights Theatre
    ,
    2014

Awards

Finalist
,
The Dr. R.J. Rodriguez Emerging Playwrights Contest
,
Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company
,
2018
Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellowship
,
Mass Cultural Council
,
2017