About the Play:

Responsible Parties has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues and Male/Male Scenes.

Responsible Parties is a full-length drama by Jeffrey Sweet. Deftly constructed and continuously absorbing, Responsible Parties is a compassionate, revealing play that traces a day in the lives of a disparate group of characters whom fate has brought together in the lobby of a seedy Los Angeles motel.

Responsible Parties is set in the lobby of the Ventura Oasis Motel, in a rundown section of Los Angeles. The owner, Randolph, is debating whether to tear the building down or turn it into a fast-food franchise. In the meantime he occupies himself by meddling in the life of his manager, a world-weary ex-convict named Cornell, whom he treats as a surrogate son, and in those of his guests. Included in the latter are an out-of-work song writer and guitarist; a down-on-their-luck Texas couple whose only valuable possession is a luxury car; and, as the action progresses, a pretty but an unwanted, crazy ex-girlfriend of Cornell's who has tracked him down and is hellbent on reconciliation. Although strangers all, for the most part, the various characters are inevitably drawn into each other's lives as crises are dealt with, confidences exchanged, and each learns that he or she is, in a very real way, his brother's keeper. In the end they go their separate ways again – but for a fleeting moment, at least, they have known a sense of caring and humanity all too seldom encountered in a world where "other people's problems" are more often ignored than shared.

Responsible Parties was first staged in 1978 at the Actors Studio Theatre School. It premiered professionally in 1979 at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. The play had its New York premiere in 1985 off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been performed in regional and college theatre productions.

Cast: 2 female, 5 male

What people say:

"…carefully balanced observations and meticulous crafting…." — New York Times

About the Playwright:

Jeffrey Sweet is an American writer, journalist, theatre historian, and teacher. He divides his time between New York and Chicago, where he has been constant presence since the beginning of that city's theatrical renaissance in the 1970s. His plays have been presented off-Broadway, internationally, and in a variety of regional and developmental theatres. A popular teacher and author of many newspaper and magazine articles, he currently teaches at Wagner College, and has taught or guest lectured at dozens of universities and professional schools.