←Recommendations of The Lucky Ones

A powerful story of the friendship between two women as they make their way through life and the changes that come. Well done.

The Lucky Ones is a sad, funny, beautifully written play about a pair of mismatched friends who are not quite able to outrun the larger world around them. A jarring diagnosis from a barely cogent doctor forces each of the women to take on a new, discomforting role in their relationship. Produce this play!

I loved this play for its exploration of female friendship which is so often portrayed as toxic. These characters are flawed humans who love each other fiercely even when they hurt each other or don't agree with each other's choices. A beautiful portrait of love that doesn't fall under the title of romance.

The strength of this play for me lies in the unsaid, the spaces left for our imagination. It’s devastating to imagine your best (and only?) friend getting cancer, and the things Romero leaves unsaid gives so much for her actors, a director, and an audience to dig into. I related to all the characters, I feel like I’ve been both of these women. It was refreshing to read a story about friendship. There’s also a lot of fun imagery and spectacle for designers to play with. Highly recommend for reading and producing.

Tender and realistic portrait of a friendship between two women, its demands, and its limits.

What a joy to read! This script had me both laughing aloud and tearing up in alternating turns. This transcends the genre of "cancer play" to be a truthful and human exploration of friendship. I love how it poses questions about the evolving role of friends in one's life over time, and the poignant statements it makes about the lack of words and tropes we have to capture the navigation of major life changes between friends. Vanessa and Janie are hilariously real and nuanced, and the use of the shape-shifting third actor embraces overt theatricality with panache.

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “The Lucky Ones” by Lia Romeo as a semifinalist for the 2019 Premiere Play Festival. “The Lucky Ones” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 23 semifinalists out of 659 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the deeply detailed and convincing relationship between Vanessa and Janie, the play’s surprising blend of humor and heartbreak, and the script’s appealing, energetic theatricality. Our congratulations and thanks to Lia.