Until We Get It Right by Natalie Sacks

Anna, 1891. Maggie, 1965. Jamie, 2014. Three people whose lives suddenly no longer make sense. UNTIL WE GET IT RIGHT tells a story of depression that spans generations, a fight between love and medication as everything else ceases to matter. Four actors portray a cast of characters in each era struggling to find a solution to a problem no one can understand.
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Until We Get It Right

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Character Information

The characters in this play are meant to be played by only four actors. The roles are divided as such:

Actor One, male, late teens, plays JAMIE, MATTHEW, TOM
Actor Two, female, late teens, plays EMILY, ANNA, MARTHA
Actor Three, female, late thirties, plays JAMIE’S MOM, AUNT CLARA, MAGGIE Actor Four, male, ageless, plays the DOCTOR

Costuming should be as simple as possible so that the actors can transition quickly and easily between roles. In an ideal staging of this piece, actors will be on stage at all times, inhabiting the world of whichever of their characters will next appear in the play.

  • Jamie, Matthew, Tom
    Late teens-20s,
    Male
    Plays JAMIE, a teenager in the present day; MATTHEW, a man in his early 20s in 1891; TOM, a man in his early-to-mid-20s in 1965
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Emily, Anna, Martha
    Late teens-20s,
    Female
    Plays EMILY, a teenager in the present day; ANNA, a teenager in 1891; MARTHA, a woman in her early 20s in 1965
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Jamie's Mom, Aunt Clara, Maggie
    30s-40s,
    Female
    Plays JAMIE'S MOM, a woman in her 40s in the present day; AUNT CLARA, a woman in her 30s in 1891; MAGGIE, a woman in her 30s in 1965
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • The Doctor
    Timeless, ageless
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s+
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Any gender

Production History

  • Workshop
    ,
    Wesleyan University
    ,
    2014

Awards

Semi-Finalist
,
Detroit New Works Festival
,
Outvisible Theatre
,
2017