IVORIES
by Riley Elton McCarthy
Brought back to their childhood home to care for their ailing grandmother, young prodigal playwright Sloane and their botanist husband Gwyn are struggling to settle the estate after their lives are uprooted by tragedy. A sudden spiral of Sloane’s obsession with completing their masterpiece in the unsettling old house forces Gwyn to confront the safety of Sloane regurgitating their family trauma into their art. When Gwyn’s childhood friend Beckham arrives to help the couple bury the hatchet, they soon discover there may be more to the house, and to Sloane, hidden beneath the foundation. If the basement is the stomach… then what’s the basement door?
- Cast Size: 2M 1W/NB 1NB
- Running Time: 90+ minutes
- Royalty Rate: $75 per performance
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About the Playwright
Riley Elton McCarthy (they/them) is a nonbinary playwright, performer, and director based in NYC. Labelled a vanguard figure of socially-conscious theatre by CPHPost, their work has been seen all over the world, but most notably, The Triad Theater, 59E59, Yale Repertory Theatre, Bøssehuset, Folketeatret, ART/NY, The Tank, and The Brick. They have held residencies with CPH HOTMEAT, International World Pride, Workshop Theater, Art House Productions, Elephant Room Productions, and Lakeranchhousedotpng, and have been a semi-finalist for SheNYCArts and the Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Conference. They were twice nominated for Best New Play with the 2022 BroadwayWorld Awards. They are the artistic director and founder of the critically acclaimed horror theatre company, Basement Light Productions. rileyeltonmccarthy.com
Sloane and Gwyn bring their troubled relationship into a troubled house, one with its own secrets and its own malevolent agenda. Everything is strange, including the people of the town and, especially, the mysterious neighbor. And the ailing grandmother–is she really in that bedroom? And what is really happening in the basement? And is Sloane completely going off the rails? And a box of dog teeth? Really? McCarthy skillfully lets the tension build, all the time leaving us desperate to figure out what exactly is at work, until the chaotic paranormal denouement. Wonderfully scary stuff from beginning to end.
Review Ivories.