One Nice Family Dinner

by Kate Isabel Foley

Caught in the middle of her mothers’ crumbling marriage, Isabella takes to escaping into her storybook, which holds a fantasy world of magical creatures and underwater treasures. But when she’s dragged along to a multi-generational Jackson family barbecue, Isabella finds that her storybook may not be enough to block out the fighting over expensive heirlooms, a decades’-old puppet, and the perfect baked Alaska...

Caught in the middle of her mothers’ crumbling marriage, Isabella takes to escaping into her storybook, which holds a fantasy world of magical creatures and underwater treasures. But when she’s dragged along to a multi-generational Jackson family barbecue, Isabella finds that her storybook may not be enough to block out the fighting over expensive heirlooms, a decades’-old puppet, and the perfect baked Alaska. This is a story of family secrets, family shames, family cycles, and family recipes.

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One Nice Family Dinner

The family:
ISABELLA JACKSON-MOORE - six or seven, female. Stephanie and Amy’s daughter.
NOAH JACKSON-MOORE - ten or eleven, male. Stephanie and Amy’s son.
STEPHANIE JACKSON - late thirties, female. Debbie and Brian’s daughter. Married to Amy.
AMY MOORE - late thirties, female. Married to Stephanie.
DEBBIE JACKSON - sixties, female. The Jackson matriarch.
BRIAN JACKSON - sixties, male. The Jackson patriarch.
GREGORY JACKSON - early thirties, male. Debbie and Brian’s son.

The fantasy world:
MERMAID - played by Isabella
DRAGON - played by Stephanie
FAIRY - played by Amy
GNOME - played by Noah

Actors playing Isabella, Stephanie, Amy, and Noah wear additional costume pieces or use props or puppets to indicate when they have become their magical creatures. The actors need to be able to transform back and forth between their fantasy and “real” world selves as quickly and fluidly as possible.

Diverse and inclusive casting is strongly encouraged.

Isabella and Noah need not be played by child actors.