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Breakdown
PLEASE NOTE: THESE PLAYS WILL BE PERFORMED IN REP AND SOME ROLES WILL BE DOUBLED.
ABOUT
AFTER THE REVOLUTION: Emma Joseph is young, ambitious, talented, and about to put the ideals of her politically leftist, New York family into action. But a long-buried secret about her much-loved blacklisted grandfather threatens her work and throws her principles—and loyalties—into question. As the family, including grandmother Vera, wrestle with their legacy, Emma must chart her own course forward.
4000 MILES: Set 10 years later, 91-year-old grandmother Vera Joseph takes center stage when, after a tragic loss on a cross-country bike trip, her 21-year-old grandson Leo shows up at her apartment. As a one-night stopover turns into an extended stay, these unlikely roommates frustrate, bewilder, and—eventually—connect with each other. In ways funny, raw, and heart-wrenching, grandmother and grandson find the common identity each needs.
SEEKING:
VERA JOSEPH
Caucasian, late 60s – 80s. Grandmother to Leo and Emma, second wife/now widow of once-celebrated Communist writer and activist Joe Joseph. Shares Joe’s radical political views, but can be culturally conservative. Has lived in her Greenwich Village apartment since the 1960s, lived through the radical, progressive beatnik years, but at her age, has become reliant on routine. Physically frail but not lacking in fortitude, has strong opinions and is forthright. Disinterested in niceties and politeness. Loving, but doesn’t mince words - can be sharp, not strong on tact. Healthy sense of irony. Beginning to lose some words and some of her hearing, but perfectly lucid in her thinking and articulation; indignant about the realities of aging, often frustrated with her growing limitations, handling them as gracefully as she can manage.
AFTER THE REVOLUTION
BEN JOSEPH
Caucasian, 40s – 50s. Joe Joseph’s middle child, Emma’s father, a high school history teacher. A fervent Marxist much like his father; the family firebrand -- holds fast to his father’s ideological legacy, will defend him to the end. Intellectually rigorous and politically outspoken. He takes his principles seriously. A warm and sensitive father who raised his daughters after his wife walked out when they were young. Raised them to share his politics and his premium on justice and good deeds. Always expected Emma to accomplish great things, and is intensely proud of her accomplishments to date. Capable of stubbornness and anger. Can be shortsighted, but operates from an underlying place of deep love and generosity. Values his close relationship with Emma above most things. Has a difficult time admitting he’s wrong.
EMMA JOSEPH
Caucasian, mid 20s-early 30s. Ben’s younger daughter. She is an activist and a recent law school grad, the founder/director of a legal fund dedicated to fighting social injustice named after her grandfather. An ambitious idealist who holds fast to her principles. A natural leader. Politically impassionate, intellectually rigorous, outspoken and articulate, preoccupied with justice. Much like her father, can be stubborn and shortsighted. Values justice before kindness. Doesn’t mince words, unafraid to confront her family with hard truths and unafraid to disagree with those she loves most. Has a difficult time admitting she’s wrong. (*POTENTIALLY WILL DOUBLE WITH BEC IN 4000 MILES*)
MEL
Female, Caucasian, 40s-50s. Ben’s partner. She is warm, generous, compassionate, intelligent and well-spoken; discerning and intuitive about Ben’s relationships with his daughters; a lefty, but less invested in staunch principles and politics than Ben. A peacemaker who attempts to cut through the family’s trademark righteousness with levity and reason. She is practical but sensitive. Capable of compromise but not remotely a pushover. She has a strong backbone and a sharp wit.
LEO JOSEPH
Caucasian, 40s-50s. Joe Joseph’s younger son, Ben’s brother. Shares his family’s political leanings, but is not as deeply involved as his brother. Amiable, affable, and generous; the family peacemaker and often mediator. Like Mel, he’s discerning and has strong intuitions about Ben’s relationships with his children, attempting to create order and harmony. He has perspective. Offers Emma haven when she is in need.
MIGUEL
Latino, mid 20s-early 30s. Emma’s boyfriend. He is also a recent law school grad, and newly employed at Emma’s fund. Shares Emma’s politics but is not as deeply entrenched as she is. Loving, good humored and generally good natured, charming, gregarious. Generous but not a pushover: generous with Emma’s stubbornness and single-mindedness, but only to a point. When pushed, he discovers a breaking point and draws the line firmly; sympathetic but disinterested in wallowing and self-pity. (*POTENTIALLY WILL DOUBLE WITH LEO IN 4000 MILES*)
MORTY
Late 60s-70s. A leading donor to Emma’s fund. Warm, wise, avuncular; full of compassionate perspective and affection for Emma. Also sardonic, idiosyncratic, good with a turn of phrase, doesn’t mince words. Accepting of ethical contradiction and relativism, doesn’t see things in black and white, accepts the grey.
JESS JOSEPH
Caucasian, mid 20s-mid 30s. Ben’s older daughter, a recovering addict who has spent time in and out of rehab since her adolescence. Finally getting it together, equipped with new perspective and hard-won wisdom thanks to her struggles and recovery, ready to have healthier relationships with her family members. Ironic and direct; tells it like it is. Despite a history of being the problem child, she’s sympathetic to her sister’s predicament. Has a healthy sense of humor about her own damage.
4000 MILES
LEO
Early 20s. Grandson to Vera. He has just traveled across the country on his bicycle and drops in on Vera for a night, which turns into weeks. Articulate and intelligent. A progressive thinker, eco-conscious, a bit of a hippie sensibility; spirited, rapid speed of thought, and forthright in expressing his opinions. Holds onto his adopted value system like his life depends on it. Gregarious, extroverted, and confident, but underneath lies enormous vulnerability, rawness, and self-doubt. He’s lost his best friend on his ride across the country, and the wounds run deep. Can lash out to protect himself, but his generosity, genuine affability and sincerity get people back on his side. (*POTENTIALLY WILL DOUBLE WITH MIGUEL IN AFTER THE REVOLUTION*)
BEC
Early 20s. Leo’s former but not yet-officially-ex-girlfriend, enrolled in her first year of college in New York City. Wary of Leo’s efforts to get back together. Intelligent and curious with a progressive ethic much like Leo’s, has done service in a number of developing countries. Pragmatic, has a strong backbone. Doesn’t apologize for her opinions, but does her best to be gracious. Strong but sensitive, has thinner skin than she might admit. Confident, articulate, self-aware, and spirited. Carrying within her a well of sadness. She’s doing her best to hold it together, but is fairly strung out, deeply unhinged by her friend’s untimely death, by Leo’s silence since, and by his sudden re-entry into her life. (*POTENTIALLY WILL DOUBLE WITH EMMA IN AFTER THE REVOLUTION*)
AMANDA
Chinese, 18 – early 20s. An art student Leo meets at a bar, an intended one-night stand for him. Feisty, stylish, fashion-forward. Brash, bold, fearless, flirtatious, but when she draws a line, she really draws it. Has plenty of sexual confidence and self-respect. Needs great comic timing.
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