About the Play:

I Ought To Be in Pictures is a full-length comedy by Neil Simon. A struggling Hollywood screenwriter is visited by his grown up daughter from New York whom he abandoned years ago. Together they must break old roles and re-establish their relationship.

I Ought To Be in Pictures deals with the nuances of love and family. It's 1980 and struggling screenwriter Herbert Tucker suddenly finds his estranged 19-year-old daughter Libby has hitchhiked to Hollywood and landed on his doorstep. After sixteen years of disconnection, Libby sweeps into Herb's home, convinced that he can give her the silver screen acting career she desires, and demands the love and fatherly guidance he owes her. With the isolation of his California bungalow disturbed, Herb is forced to deal with the realities of fatherhood, and a renewed sense of direction that may affect his relationship with his on-again-off-again girlfriend Steffy. This funny and heartwarming story from one of America's most renowned playwrights proves that even the most dysfunctional families can undergo astounding transformations.

I Ought To Be in Pictures had a pre-Broadway engagement in 1979 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. It premiered in 1980 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and ran for over 10 months on Broadway. Since then the play had regional premieres at professional theatres across the US and has been mounted by colleges and community theatres.

Cast: 2 women, 1 men.

What people say:

"Terrific [...] sweet, dandy and touching [...] a mature, memorable play that brings joy to the season." — New York Post

"A finely tuned theatrical blend of hilarity, honesty, directly and deeply felt emotion. Go." — WCBS-TV

"Wow! Two enjoyable hours of forget-your-troubles theater, with plenty of chuckles and some out-loud guffaws along the way … Simon's eighteenth Broadway show sneaks up on you and grabs you by the heart." — StageSceneLA

Neil Simon (1927-2018) was America's most prolific playwright. He had dozens of plays and nearly as many major motion pictures produced. He was showered with more Academy and Tony nominations than any other writer, and is the only playwright to have four Broadway productions running simultaneously. His plays have been produced in dozens of languages, and have been blockbuster hits from Beijing to Moscow. His true success, however, is in his unique way of exposing something real in the American spirit.