The Self-Destruction of Emma James: A Play about Having it All by Kate Brennan

Emma James is a mother of two young children who is trying to survive the day and reenter the workforce. But to land the new opportunity she seeks, she may have to make a deal with the devil, or herself, or possibly both. But what could go wrong when she finally gets everything she ever wanted?

Groundhogs Day meets Faust in this new play about the lengths we go to protect our children and the...
Emma James is a mother of two young children who is trying to survive the day and reenter the workforce. But to land the new opportunity she seeks, she may have to make a deal with the devil, or herself, or possibly both. But what could go wrong when she finally gets everything she ever wanted?

Groundhogs Day meets Faust in this new play about the lengths we go to protect our children and the risks we take to preserve ourselves, the devil we know and the devil we haven’t met yet, and the unending ever-illusive search for work/life balance.
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The Self-Destruction of Emma James: A Play about Having it All

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EMMA JAMES - F, early 40s, trying to balance work and life
INNER EMMA - F, her mercurial guiding voice, slightly younger, less competent or more extreme than EMMA
Also plays
VAL - F, an employee in hell, from HR, always lies

XANDER MANDER - M, everyone else
BARISTA - Xander, the alternately friendly, quixotic and beleaguered tattooed, pierced, poetry-writing neighborhood barista
HUSBAND - Emma’s husband, blunt, effusive, attractive, never seen
DOCTOR - a veterinary doctor, does not treat humans
THE DEVIL - solicitous, eager to please, eager to leave
BRYCE - recent Ivy league graduate, perpetually overqualified
GAME SHOW
HOST - a charismatic golden aging celebrity with the precision of Alex Trebek

NUTELLA - F/NB, the receptionist in hell

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Women's Playwright Circle at Speranza
    ,
    2023

Awards