Melancholy Play is a raucous, genre-bending melodrama written by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Katharine McDonough and brought to you by Contempo Productions (Scarlet Pimpernel – 2017 Encore Producer Award Nominee).
Tilly works in a bank and suffers from exquisite melancholy. Unfortunately, everyone she meets finds it irresistible—and promptly falls in love with her (including her therapist). But when her sadness suddenly vanishes, so does the delicate logic of her world. Chaos ensues, identities blur, and almonds may or may not hold the key to everything.
Subtitled “a contemporary farce,” Melancholy Play is a romantic comedy having an existential crisis—somewhere between Greta Gerwig’s indie humanist charm and Emerald Fennell’s grand gothic chaos. Sarah Ruhl crafts a world in which melancholy becomes a kind of magic—seductive, destabilizing, and ultimately revealing the fragile absurdity of human connection and what it means to be truly alive.
Featuring an all-star cast of Los Angeles theatre favorites, this is one Fringe ride you won’t want to miss.