ROOMIES: Julia Stephens to Bring Solo Show to Edinburgh Fringe
Directed by Ryan Dobrin, the true-story solo show explores friendship and identity in a treatment facility.
ROOMIES, a new solo show written and performed by Julia Stephens, will make its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut.
Based on a true story, the play follows Sophie, a former Los Angeles socialite whose life changes dramatically when she enters a mental health treatment facility. Expecting a brief stay, she instead finds herself sharing a room for five months with Molly, an 18-year-old woman living with schizophrenia.
As Sophie's carefully constructed identity begins to unravel, the production explores questions of friendship, autonomy, and recovery. Set against the contrast between Los Angeles nightlife and the regimented environment of a treatment center, the play examines how people redefine themselves when familiar markers of success and status disappear.
Written and performed by Julia Stephens, whose previous work includes Really It's Rita and Ctrl+Alt+Underground, the production is directed by Ryan Dobrin, whose credits include Becky Shaw and Merrily We Roll Along.
“ROOMIES is based on a true story and it's about these two unlikely characters, a 30-year-old L.A. it-girl and an 18-year-old with schizophrenia, that are stuck sharing a room in a treatment facility for five months,” said Stephens. “It's dark, it's weird, it's really funny and it's such a dream to premiere this very glamorous and crazy Los Angeles story at the Edinburgh Fringe.”
She added, “My deepest hope is that audiences will find a bit of themselves in my show and realize that wherever life finds you, in that ultimate pit of despair, there's a friend around the corner, a connection just waiting to meet you -- and that we aren't alone.”
Through humor and personal storytelling, ROOMIES explores mental health treatment, friendship, and survival while examining the systems that shape people's experiences of recovery. The play offers a portrait of two women navigating uncertainty together and discovering unexpected connection in an environment neither expected to call home.
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