Serenade

by Zach Barr

FULL LENGTH
Pip and Mia are friends from college. Mia just got engaged to a man named Jan. Pip and their partner Lou arrive at Mia and Jan’s new apartment to celebrate the engagement and housewarming. But Lou and Pip have a secret plan: they’ve come to break up the engagement, since they believe Mia deserves a better partner than the bland Jan. But as the night goes on, the exact nature of Mia and Jan’s...

FULL LENGTH
Pip and Mia are friends from college. Mia just got engaged to a man named Jan. Pip and their partner Lou arrive at Mia and Jan’s new apartment to celebrate the engagement and housewarming. But Lou and Pip have a secret plan: they’ve come to break up the engagement, since they believe Mia deserves a better partner than the bland Jan. But as the night goes on, the exact nature of Mia and Jan’s relationship becomes more clear, and at the same time, the true reasons for Lou and Pip’s desire to break them up only grow muddier.

SERENADE is a play about the limits of what we know, what we don’t, and what we want from each other. What does it mean to believe you know what’s best for someone more than they do? What happens when we know our friends so well that we believe we can see them lying to themselves? And is there a secret message in that Georgia O’Keeffe print on the wall?

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Serenade

Recommended by

  • Adrienne Dawes: Serenade by Zach Barr
    “

    A quartet piece full of twists and turns, this play is asking, nay BEGGING to be staged in a living room or other intimate, site-specific space. I really admire how Zach attends to characters who initially read as complex or “untidy", allowing them space to unravel and push beyond the boxes they’re assigned to in revealing and surprising ways.

    A quartet piece full of twists and turns, this play is asking, nay BEGGING to be staged in a living room or other intimate, site-specific space. I really admire how Zach attends to characters who initially read as complex or “untidy", allowing them space to unravel and push beyond the boxes they’re assigned to in revealing and surprising ways.

    ”
  • Aly Kantor: Serenade by Zach Barr
    “

    There is a stunning efficiency to this play, making it feel as composed and deliberate as the music that underscores the silent, powerful final scene. Every pairing of characters is so dynamic and complex, introducing new texture to every scene that came before and every scene that follows. And I love that this play isn't afraid of tackling one of the "big themes" and understands that the most epic of questions deserves a spare treatment that allows them to resonate and complicate and transform!

    There is a stunning efficiency to this play, making it feel as composed and deliberate as the music that underscores the silent, powerful final scene. Every pairing of characters is so dynamic and complex, introducing new texture to every scene that came before and every scene that follows. And I love that this play isn't afraid of tackling one of the "big themes" and understands that the most epic of questions deserves a spare treatment that allows them to resonate and complicate and transform!

    ”
  • Kim E. Ruyle: Serenade by Zach Barr
    “

    Barr’s Serenade really floored me. Motives. Secrets. Deception. Love. Lust. It all unfolds in a taut, intriguing story that had me leaning in on every page. Jan’s monologue about the symphony is extraordinary. And the final scene, especially paired with the recommended score, lands as a perfect, head-spinning button. This one is going to stay with me. Bravo!

    Barr’s Serenade really floored me. Motives. Secrets. Deception. Love. Lust. It all unfolds in a taut, intriguing story that had me leaning in on every page. Jan’s monologue about the symphony is extraordinary. And the final scene, especially paired with the recommended score, lands as a perfect, head-spinning button. This one is going to stay with me. Bravo!

    ”

Character Information

  • LOU
    Pip’s partner. She/her, high femme.
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Non-binary,
      Woman
  • PIP
    Lou’s partner. They/them, butch.
    Any
    Non-binary
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Non-binary
  • MIA
    Jan’s fiancée. She/her, semi-androgynous but femme leaning.
    Any
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Non-binary,
      Woman
  • JAN
    Mia’s fiancé. He/him, a man.
    Any
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s,
      40s,
      50s,
      60s,
      70s+
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Man,
      Non-binary

Awards

  • Epiphanies New Works Festival
    Wild Imaginings
    Honorable Mention
    2026