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Overview

Synopsis

When high school senior Penelope moves to a very small town in Eastern California after the death of her mother, Theresa, she finds a haunted landscape to match her inner world. Her punk-rock musician crush next door struggles with his oxycontin addiction, her aunt Josephine gives her a box of her mother’s dolls that turns out to be full of rats, and a hormonally charged Halloween party sets off an earthquake. Josephine, mourning the loss of her older sister, and faced with taking care of her teenaged niece, struggles to keep afloat when, inside, she still feels like a teenager herself. Her finances are in ruins, her house is falling apart, and an ill-advised grief-fueled hookup with her high school boyfriend -- now married, now the town mayor -- ends in broken friendships. In the ghost town next door, Jim, a brilliant man whose academic potential was cut off due to the onset of mental illness, wanders the streets and sleeps in the tumbledown buildings, communing with ghosts until he dies in the Halloween earthquake, and becomes a ghost himself. And 30 years in the past, Jim and Theresa prepare to say goodbye as they leave their small town behind and head towards the bright futures which they hope await them in the outside world. Amidst frightening ghostly manifestations, awkward sexual adventures, and small town life, Penelope and Josephine must find a way to connect with each other and articulate their heartache. Erin Courtney’s I Will Be Gone is a tender, awkward, authentically sorrowful, and deeply funny exploration of life after loss.

Show Information

Category
Play
Age Guidance
Mature Audiences (M)
Number of Acts
1
First Produced
2015
Genres
Drama, Dark Comedy
Settings
Contemporary, Multiple Settings
Time & Place
A small town in the Eastern Sierras, California, present day (2010s)
Cast Size
medium
Licensor
Playscripts, inc
Ideal For
College/University, Community Theatre, Ensemble Cast, Mature Audiences, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Mostly Female Cast, Includes Late Teen, Adult, Early Teen, Child Characters, Medium Cast

Context


Plot


Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

Penelope

Lead

Female

Spoken

Josephine

Lead

Female

Spoken

Liam

Supporting

Male

Spoken

Liz

Supporting

Female

Spoken

Jim

Supporting

Male

Spoken

Theresa

Supporting

Female

Spoken

Young Jim

Supporting

Male

Spoken

Elliot

Supporting

Male

Non-singer

Young Josephine

Featured

Female

Spoken

Songs

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A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

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Scenes

All scenes are the property and copyright of their owners. Scenes are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this scene, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Key Terms

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Videos

Quizzes

Themes, Symbols & Motifs

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Quote Analysis

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