About the Play:

American Hero has become a favourite of acting teachers for Female/Male Scenes.

American Hero is a full-length comedy by Bess Wohl. The plight of the "sandwich artist" is explored with great detail in American Hero. Three lowly workers – a teenager, a single mom, and a downsized refugee from corporate banking – are forced into an unlikely alliance when the sub shop franchise is abandoned by its corporate owners. 

American Hero tells the story of three minimum-wage employees and the lengths they go to hold on to their jobs. At a new toasted subs franchise in the local mall, three up-and-coming "sandwich artists" are perfecting the mustard-to-cheese ratio according to the corporate training manual. Their roles on the three station sandwich assembly line are strictly assigned: shy, reserved Sheri, 18 years old working two low-level jobs to help pay family medical bills, starts things off as the "baser"; positive, driven Ted, proud possessor of an MBA who's been laid off from his banking job, adds major items as the "finisher"; and outgoing, party-girl Jamie, a single mom in a custody battle trying to raise two kids, concludes the process as the "wrapper". When Bob, the overwhelmed owner, disappears on opening day and the corporate office doesn't reply to their SOS, the trio is left with two options: give up and face unemployment, or find a way to keep the store running. American Hero is a supersized dark comedy that celebrates the creativity and drive of everyday people struggling to succeed, one sandwich at a time.

American Hero premiered in 2013 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Since then the play had its New York premiere in 2013 at off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre, and its Los Angeles premiere in 2018 at The Pasadena Playhouse. It has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and is regularly performed in regional and college theatre productions

Cast: 2 female, 5 male (doubling)

What people say:

"[Bess Wohl's] darkly funny comedy…takes a wry, compassionate attitude toward American workers barely clinging to the bottom rungs of the economic ladder." — New York Magazine

"Wohl's quirky comedy observes a few specimens of the embattled American working class…Simmering beneath the heroic battle to succeed in a cutthroat market – and the great crisis when the franchise is abandoned by its corporate owners – is a metaphorically rich survival drama about individual pluck and group courage." — Variety

"…no matter where you fall on the food chain, you're bound to encounter frustration in a day and age when uniformity and profit are valued over creativity and inspiration. American Hero calls to mind a range of anxiety-generating post-recession narratives, among them Laura Marks' Bethany…but the ideas [Wohl] is toying with leave you plenty to chew on." — NBC New York

About the Playwright:

Bess Wohl is an American playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker. She began her career as an actress, earning an MFA from Yale, and has since become a writer, developing for the stage, motion pictures, and television.