About the Play:

View of the Dome has long been a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues, Male Monologues, and Female/Male Scenes.

View of the Dome is a full-length comedy by Theresa Rebeck. When an idealistic campaign volunteer gets involved in her friend's campaign for the Senate, she falls prey to Washington, D.C. political players and suddenly becomes the focus of a national sex scandal. View of the Dome is a hysterical comedy with some surprising insights about how one woman can take down an entire government.

View of the Dome explores the power of spin and how much that spin affects people, policy, and politics on Capitol Hill. This humour-filled tale of political corruption, ingratitude, and revenge focuses on Emma, an idealistic young Washington lawyer, who persuades her former law professor, a man of lofty rhetoric, to run for Congress. Ideals shrivel in the Washington air as the professor is swept into an insider's circle that includes her boyfriend the compromising campaign manager, a leering, power drunk senator and a slinky Southern power broker. When Emma is snubbed by the politically powerful at a swanky restaurant with a "view of the dome" of the Capitol building, her hurt feelings precipitate an all out "war." To seek revenge, Emma manufactures the only story that would shock Puritanical America and shake the political powers: a sex scandal. As her scheme spirals out of control, Emma finds herself the focus of Congressional hearings, the poster child for the Religious Right, and the darling of the media. This fast-paced, witty script packs a powerful political message, giving the audience a view of Washington as insiders know it. View of the Dome is a morality tale of how the slightest gaffe can effect unintended – and vast – consequences.

View of the Dome premiered in 1996 at Off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop in Manhattan. The play has become a favourite scene study vehicle in acting classes and workshops and has been produced at professional theatres and performed in college theatre productions as a showcase of student talent.

Cast: 2 female, 5 male

What people say:

"View of the Dome is potent political drama – a cunning satire that spares nobody ... laughter snowballs into hysteria, and good intentions lead straight to hell...." — New York Magazine

"The timeliness of this piece, penned oddly enough pre-Lewinsky, in 1996, couldn't be more powerful as we see that when all is said and done, just as in the real world, no one exits the political arena unscathed." — Backstage

About the Playwright:

Theresa Rebeck is an American playwright, director, television writer, and novelist. She is the most Broadway-produced female playwright of our time. Her plays include Bad Dates, Omnium Gatherum (co-written, Pulitzer finalist), Spike Heels, and Mauritius, which won Boston's prestigious IRNE and Elliot Norton Awards. Her work in television includes NYPD Blue for which she has won the Peabody, the Writer's Guild, and the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar awards.