The Lights Are On

by Owen Panettieri

When Trish arrives home one night to find the lights on in her house and a stranger waiting at her bedroom window, she runs straight to her neighbor Liz's house for help. Though they haven't spoken in years, Liz invites her inside, but immediately Trish feels something is not right. The more Trish learns about how Liz and her son Nathan have been living, the more certain she becomes that a threat to all of their...

When Trish arrives home one night to find the lights on in her house and a stranger waiting at her bedroom window, she runs straight to her neighbor Liz's house for help. Though they haven't spoken in years, Liz invites her inside, but immediately Trish feels something is not right. The more Trish learns about how Liz and her son Nathan have been living, the more certain she becomes that a threat to all of their safety is quickly closing in around them.

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The Lights Are On

Recommended by

  • Mark-Eugene Garcia: The Lights Are On by Owen Panettieri
    “

    This mix of Edward Albee and Rod Serling surprised me moment after moment. What begins as a simple request between former friends becomes and night of truth telling (and possible lie telling) and eventual horror. Right after finishing I wanted to read it again, then see it. There are so many tiny nuances in the character choices and motivations that I wanted to go back and see how they add up and what I missed. I enjoyed these people even if I wasnt supposed to. I still have chills from it.

    This mix of Edward Albee and Rod Serling surprised me moment after moment. What begins as a simple request between former friends becomes and night of truth telling (and possible lie telling) and eventual horror. Right after finishing I wanted to read it again, then see it. There are so many tiny nuances in the character choices and motivations that I wanted to go back and see how they add up and what I missed. I enjoyed these people even if I wasnt supposed to. I still have chills from it.

    ”
  • Cheryl Bear: The Lights Are On by Owen Panettieri
    “

    A captivating mystery as Trish discovers the threat that she didn't expect when she knocked on the door. Well done!

    A captivating mystery as Trish discovers the threat that she didn't expect when she knocked on the door. Well done!

    ”
  • Vince Gatton: The Lights Are On by Owen Panettieri
    “

    A dazzling “What the fuck?” of a play. Starting with a sense of dread and dropping unsettling oddities that accumulate in delicious and ominous ways, The Lights Are On is a tight 90 minutes that unfold with the logic of a nightmare. Are we in a psychological horror movie? An Albee drama? An apocalyptic environmental disaster story? I’d say all of the above. With three compelling but deeply untrustworthy characters, this is a play where no one is safe — meaning for themselves or for the audience. Practically demands a second read.

    A dazzling “What the fuck?” of a play. Starting with a sense of dread and dropping unsettling oddities that accumulate in delicious and ominous ways, The Lights Are On is a tight 90 minutes that unfold with the logic of a nightmare. Are we in a psychological horror movie? An Albee drama? An apocalyptic environmental disaster story? I’d say all of the above. With three compelling but deeply untrustworthy characters, this is a play where no one is safe — meaning for themselves or for the audience. Practically demands a second read.

    ”
LIZ - Disaster supply enthusiast, widow - 40s/50s, FEMALE
TRISH - Comes form wealth, divorced - 40s/50s, FEMALE
NATHAN - Liz's adult gay son, relationship status: it's complicated - 20s, MALE

Note: While Liz and Trish can be played by actresses of any race/ethnicity, it is the playwright's original intent that Nathan be portrayed by an artist of color that does not physically resemble his mother. Nathan looks like his father, whose race/ethnicity is never expressly stated.