About the Project
This 2026 staged reading of The Break-Up Girl is the story of Nicole Taylor, a stay-at-home mother in her fifties who has put her dream of being a clothing designer on hold for years in order to be home to raise her daughter, Ruby, an over achiever with promising college prospects. When her husband unexpectedly passes away and she realizes that, unbeknownst to her, he has been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, she and Ruby are threatened with eviction, not to mention looming college tuition, and she is forced to return to the only job she seems to be able to get: as the personal assistant for Tate Tatum, a child star turned heartthrob. She quickly learns that it’s up to her to help him maintain his clean public image, which means keeping track of his “date” book and making sure he doesn’t have to break any hearts himself face to face. She quickly becomes “The Break-Up Girl.”
We travel with Our Girl, Nicole, from despair and desperation to self-discovery and fulfillment, exploring how the roles of social media, “fandom,” and ageism influence self-image and can impede us from being true to ourselves while gently and lovingly poking the bear of the Hollywood machine.
Production Team
