53% Of

by Steph Del Rosso

The president is coming to town, and the ladies of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania are beside themselves planning for the big event. Later, their husbands drink beer and talk smack. Much later, a group of 20-somethings gather in Brooklyn to plan a fundraiser...or is it a march? Or is it a ritual to absolve their own guilt? A play about complicity and the violence of the status quo, 53% OF asks what happens when we stop...

The president is coming to town, and the ladies of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania are beside themselves planning for the big event. Later, their husbands drink beer and talk smack. Much later, a group of 20-somethings gather in Brooklyn to plan a fundraiser...or is it a march? Or is it a ritual to absolve their own guilt? A play about complicity and the violence of the status quo, 53% OF asks what happens when we stop equating white womanhood with goodness, and ignorance with innocence.

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53% Of

Recommended by

  • Anna Tatelman: 53% Of by Steph Del Rosso
    “

    I saw this play at Sound Theatre a few weeks ago. Steph Del Rosso does a wonderful job in each vignette of both lending her characters compassion while picking apart their hypocrisies with absolutely no mercy. Neither the left nor the right comes off as "the good guys" in this piece, which is an admirable and daring choice for our highly polarized country.

    I saw this play at Sound Theatre a few weeks ago. Steph Del Rosso does a wonderful job in each vignette of both lending her characters compassion while picking apart their hypocrisies with absolutely no mercy. Neither the left nor the right comes off as "the good guys" in this piece, which is an admirable and daring choice for our highly polarized country.

    ”
  • Cary Simowitz: 53% Of by Steph Del Rosso
    “

    An arresting, surprising, powerful play!

    An arresting, surprising, powerful play!

    ”
  • Rebecca Hodge: 53% Of by Steph Del Rosso
    “

    This is a play that is intensely hilarious but doesn't pull its punches for a moment. Deeply theatrical while also all too real, 53% Of implicates white women - and not just those who are part of the statistic the title refers to. This play knows theatre audiences and stares them right in the face (quite literally at one point). I was honored to see a reading of this play at the Kennedy Center, and it floored me then. It deserves to floor so, so many more.

    This is a play that is intensely hilarious but doesn't pull its punches for a moment. Deeply theatrical while also all too real, 53% Of implicates white women - and not just those who are part of the statistic the title refers to. This play knows theatre audiences and stares them right in the face (quite literally at one point). I was honored to see a reading of this play at the Kennedy Center, and it floored me then. It deserves to floor so, so many more.

    ”
View all 4 recommendations

Development History

  • Reading, Oregon Shakespeare Festival , 2021
  • Workshop, UC-San Diego, 2018
  • Workshop, Ojai Playwrights Conference , 2018

Production History

  • Professional, Alliance Theatre (Cancelled due to Covid-19), 2020

Awards

  • Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition
    Alliance Theatre
    Winner
    2019
  • Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting
    KCACTF
    Runner Up
    2018