THE ROMEO AND JULIET SENIOR CITIZENS PROJECT: A COMEDY by Jami Brandli

Story by Jami Brandli, Nina Sallinen and Ann Hearn Tobolowsky (and William Shakespeare, too)

Lucas, a recent Yale MFA graduate, is hired to direct an abridged production of Romeo and Juliet for a local senior citizens retirement facility. Hilarious complications arise among the elder actors during rehearsals as an unexpected romance re-blossoms between Rich and Rose, the two star-crossed lovers/residents at the facility. As this comedy about second chances unfolds, we’ll watch both Lucas and his cast of headstrong seniors wrestle with Shakespeare and real-life drama. But will they be able to come together as a team and actually pull off opening night? The odds are against them, but the play must go on…no matter what. 

Coming to CVREP on January 28, 2025 at 2pm.

JAMI BRANDLI

JAMI BRANDLI is the winner of the 2023 Jane Chambers Award and the 2023 Stanley Drama Award for her play, The Magician’s Sister. Other plays include: The Caregiver’s Guide,  M-Theory, Technicolor Life, The Romeo and Juliet Senior Citizens Project—A Comedy, O: A Rhapsody in Divorce, and BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)—named on The Kilroys List and a LA Times Critics’ Choice. Her work has been produced/developed at New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, Kitchen Dog Theater, Women’s Voices Theater Festival, Center Theatre Group, among other venues. 

  
Additional accolades include: 2022 Center Theatre Group Writer’s Workshop. Nominated for Best Playwriting for an Original Play; Los Angeles Ovation Awards. Humanitas Prize PLAY LA playwright. Winner of John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, Holland New Voices Award, Ashland New Plays Festival and Aurora Theatre Company’s GAP Prize. Finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Drama, the O’Neill and Ojai Playwrights Conference. Her short works are published with TCG, Dramatic Publishing Company, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus.   

 Upcoming/recent productions and development: 

 The Magician’s Sister was presented as part of Center Theatre Group’s New Works Festival at The Kirk Douglas Theater. It was recently workshopped at the Center for the Arts at Kayenta where it will also receive a workshop production in January, 2025.  O: A Rhapsody in Divorce is currently receiving a Rolling World Premiere with Mildred’s Umbrella (Houston, TX) in early 2024, and then with Outside In Theatre (Los Angeles) in fall, 2025.  

A proud member of The Playwrights Union, The Independent Writers’ Caucus and The Dramatists Guild, Jami teaches dramatic writing at Lesley University’s low-residency MFA program. She is represented by Navigation Media where she is developing film and TV projects. Her plays can be found on the New Play Exchange.  www.jamibrandli.com 

ORIGINS: 2025

Read about the other great projects being developed in our 2025 Origins season.

OBSESSED

By Starr Shapiro

DOUBLE HELIX

By Vince Gatton

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S MUSICAL COMEDY
: A musical adaptation

Book, Music & Lyrics by Johnny Elkins 

For more information about Origins, please click here.

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