BUNNIES

by Joanne Hoersch

Bunnies takes place in January, 1973, at 2:00 am in the locker room of the NY Playboy Club. Two Bunnies, Lottie and Janice have just gotten off the night shift and are changing out of their costumes, when a third Bunny, Bonita, enters; extremely upset about an interaction she just had with a customer. She is reluctant to talk about the incident because she, like Janice and Lottie, has been spooked by a report...

Bunnies takes place in January, 1973, at 2:00 am in the locker room of the NY Playboy Club. Two Bunnies, Lottie and Janice have just gotten off the night shift and are changing out of their costumes, when a third Bunny, Bonita, enters; extremely upset about an interaction she just had with a customer. She is reluctant to talk about the incident because she, like Janice and Lottie, has been spooked by a report in the newspaper of a 28 year old woman named Roseann Quinn, who was bludgeoned to death by a man she picked up in a bar. It is the first murder of the New Year and it is making not only local, but national headlines.
Bonita tells Janice and Lottie the story of her relationship with a customer who, because Bonita refused a very large tip from him, has become abusive towards her. Each of them offers her a way to deal with this situation, because they’ve all had to cope with “difficult” men. They are anxious to put their Bunny days behind them, but the pay is good, and the jobs are safer than many other waitressing and office jobs, because Bunnies are protected by a union.
Yet even the union can’t help their friend Bunny Margo who, at age 37 is going to be fired for losing her “Bunny Image”, which means she looks old.
The three of them are joined by a new Bunny, Kekkie, who may or may not be Margo’s replacement. Just before Kekkie’s arrival, Bonita has revealed a secret that may change all of their lives, but will definitely change hers.
Within the shadow of the Roseann Quinn murder, Bonita realizes that her encounter with the customer could have wound up taking a much darker turn. The Bunnies begin to realize how fragile their lives are, with respect to employment, youth, and the danger of unwittingly provoking violent feelings in the men they serve cocktails to.
1973 was a time of rising feminism, but also of a backlash against it. The Bunnies, all career women, all unmarried, straddle both sides of the fence on these issues. The cruelty of seeing a co-worker be fired simply because she is not young and beautiful anymore, empowers them to do something but also makes them feel hopeless because they realize that so many of the “choices” they make in their lives are dictated by men, and are therefore not choices at all.
The play is based on my own experiences as a Playboy Bunny from 1973-1975.

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BUNNIES

Recommended by

  • Tom Rowan: BUNNIES by Joanne Hoersch
    “

    This play convincingly takes you back to a very specific time and place. The author effortlessly evokes the 1970s period and the setting through shrewdly selected details, bringing the unique environment of the Playboy Club to life with the authority of lived experience. The dialogue is expert and the characters are sharply drawn and differentiated; all are written with respect for their individuality and their dreams but without stinting on the humor engendered by their foibles. Acting students should find this a particularly rich source of material for scene study classes and monologue...

    This play convincingly takes you back to a very specific time and place. The author effortlessly evokes the 1970s period and the setting through shrewdly selected details, bringing the unique environment of the Playboy Club to life with the authority of lived experience. The dialogue is expert and the characters are sharply drawn and differentiated; all are written with respect for their individuality and their dreams but without stinting on the humor engendered by their foibles. Acting students should find this a particularly rich source of material for scene study classes and monologue auditions.

    read more
    ”
  • Lenny Hort: BUNNIES by Joanne Hoersch
    “

    Joanne Hoersch writes with her head, her heart, and her guts in this fascinating, fast-paced, thoroughly believable comedy/drama of unlikely feminist empowerment at a particularly tense moment. The author draws convincingly on her own experience as a Playboy Bunny in the 1970s, yet all five Bunny characters are such distinctive and well-rounded individuals that none is an obvious author surrogate.

    Joanne Hoersch writes with her head, her heart, and her guts in this fascinating, fast-paced, thoroughly believable comedy/drama of unlikely feminist empowerment at a particularly tense moment. The author draws convincingly on her own experience as a Playboy Bunny in the 1970s, yet all five Bunny characters are such distinctive and well-rounded individuals that none is an obvious author surrogate.

    ”

Character Information

5 Females: 1 Black, 1 Hispanic, 3 White, all in their 20s
  • Janice
    Janice is the oldest of the Bunnies and has worked for Playboy for over six years. She is starting to get worried about being fired for no longer having Bunny Image, i.e. being too old. She is bold, speaks her mind, is somewhat contentious and battle-weary. She is also self-mocking and has a sort of "fly by the seat of your pants," attitude towards life.
    27
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Kekkie
    Kekkie has just been hired, and is the youngest of the Bunnies. Her naivete about city life, her simplistic attitudes towards sex, race and religion, rub the other Bunnies the wrong way. But she is sensitive to the fact that she is not worldly and may hold outdated or even hostile beliefs about the world. She is constantly trying not to offend and winds up doing exactly the opposite. She has a three year old son and is desperate to keep her job at Playboy.
    20
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Margo
    Margo appears only in the last scene. She has just been fired for losing her Bunny Image and she is scared and angry about it. She does not know where she will find a job, and has a secret that she tells Bunny Bonita.
    38
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Bonita
    Bonita is the lead character of the play. She has been selected Bunny of the Year by customer vote, attends Columbia University, and is the most centered, complex character in the play. Both Janice and Lottie have a fraught relationship with her; often jealous of her beauty and intellect, but also admiring of her compassion. Bonita has a secret that generates a good portion of the plot.
    24
    African American
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Lottie
    Bunny Lottie believes that using her mind, understanding Freud, and working her way up the ladder in the union that the Bunnies belong to, is the key to getting out of her job at Playboy. She is currently the union representative for the Bunnies. She is friends with Janice and somewhat perplexed yet fascinated with Bonita. Lottie is the only one who is in a relationship.
    24
    native american
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Indigenous, First Nation, or Native American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Production History

  • Professional, Hudson Theatre Works, 2021

Awards

  • Playwriting Award, NJ State Council on the Arts
    New Jersey State Council on the Arts
    2012