Roughly Speaking

by Shara Ashley Zeiger

Roughly Speaking is a full length theatrical etude with rap based on over 200 interviews with the NYC Homeless.
See a world we often walk by through the eyes of Lightning.Bolt, a rapper bound only by his wheelchair on a not so typical day at the soup kitchen. An existential struggle of survival begs questions of love, loss, and what's next.

Roughly Speaking is a full length theatrical etude with rap based on over 200 interviews with the NYC Homeless.
See a world we often walk by through the eyes of Lightning.Bolt, a rapper bound only by his wheelchair on a not so typical day at the soup kitchen. An existential struggle of survival begs questions of love, loss, and what's next.

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Roughly Speaking

Recommended by

  • Jessica Feder-Birnbaum: Roughly Speaking by Shara Ashley Zeiger
    “

    Zeiger humanizes homelessness in this moving play. The characters are distinct and we realize they're not just anonymous faces on the street. The way they care for each other makes the audience care about them. This would be a great play for a theatre looking for plays dealing with social justice issues. It would also be great in school and community based settings. ROUGHLY SPEAKING is both a teaching tool and a compelling piece of theatre.

    Zeiger humanizes homelessness in this moving play. The characters are distinct and we realize they're not just anonymous faces on the street. The way they care for each other makes the audience care about them. This would be a great play for a theatre looking for plays dealing with social justice issues. It would also be great in school and community based settings. ROUGHLY SPEAKING is both a teaching tool and a compelling piece of theatre.

    ”
  • Melissa Bell: Roughly Speaking by Shara Ashley Zeiger
    “

    I just got the play from Next Stage Press and I was immediately drawn into the world Zeiger creates. Very good character studies. I saw a production several years ago in NYC and yet I enjoyed reading it even more. A timely ensemble piece with a lot of heart.

    I just got the play from Next Stage Press and I was immediately drawn into the world Zeiger creates. Very good character studies. I saw a production several years ago in NYC and yet I enjoyed reading it even more. A timely ensemble piece with a lot of heart.

    ”
  • Brent Alles: Roughly Speaking by Shara Ashley Zeiger
    “

    This is an incredible piece. The technique that Zeiger uses draws you in, carefully, and yet you're still left vulnerable to the discoveries that are to come later in the story. A sobering look at this aspect of society, yet the characters are drawn incredibly well. There's warmth, caring, indifference, and tragedy here all mixed in together with so many more emotions. Towards the end of the play, when Zeiger is weaving different aspects of the story and characters she's creating, in and out, it's quite breathtaking. This is an excellent play that deserves more productions!

    This is an incredible piece. The technique that Zeiger uses draws you in, carefully, and yet you're still left vulnerable to the discoveries that are to come later in the story. A sobering look at this aspect of society, yet the characters are drawn incredibly well. There's warmth, caring, indifference, and tragedy here all mixed in together with so many more emotions. Towards the end of the play, when Zeiger is weaving different aspects of the story and characters she's creating, in and out, it's quite breathtaking. This is an excellent play that deserves more productions!

    ”
These roles can be cast separately or cast to double.

Characters
Alicia: The chef, half Puerto Rican half Native American,
married to Tiny. 50s-60s, charming but firm
Melissa: A community college student who sleeps on the
subway, African American, 20s, from Indiana, clueless
Diana: A young addict widow who sleeps in Grand Central 30s,
Caucasian
Danny (doubles with Stage Manager): A Caucasian curmudgeon
Vietnam vet, who walks in a 90 degree hunch, with narcolepsy.
(late 50s- early 70 yrs old)
Stage Manager: (doubles with Danny) Someone who works at the
theater.
Tiny: A large imposing Vietnam vet, the custodian, married to
Alicia. Half Puerto Rican, Half Native American. 50s-early
70s. Ideally someone very physically tall, but not
necessarily.
Richie (doubles with W): A sloppy jolly man with a Santa
claus quality. Any Ethnicity.
W (doubles with Richie): A drug dealer, and murderer, proud,
mixed of a lot of Ethnicities. Emotional.
Proper (doubles with Jose): A dapper older southern
gentleman, African American.
Jose (doubles with Proper): A man with a variety of mental
issues Loves his numbers, a former doctor and easily
influenced. Probably Hispanic, or a mix.
Trudy (doubles with Lester): Transgender woman with AIDS from
Harlem who loves her soul food, life and the color purple,
(40s-50s) Probably African American.

Lester (doubles with Trudy): Washed up Jazz musician (40s-
50s), a sax man

Lightning.bolt: (pronounced Lightning dot bolt), A rapper in
a wheel chair with a flava flave quality, African American.

Development History

  • Reading, Rhymes Over Beats, 2017
  • Reading, The Platform Group at MTC , 2015

Production History

  • Professional, The Platform Group, 2016