Black Jack
by Rosary Hartel O'neill

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

90 minsPresent DayExpandable CastingUnit Set/Multiple SettingsContemporary Costumes/Street ClothesAmerican Comedy

Awards & Recognition

Pulitzer Prize

Nominee! Pulitzer Prize for new American Drama Winner! NYC Alice's Fourth Floor Prize for new plays

Synopsis

Full Length Southern Comedy CharacterS: 2 male 4 female

Unit Set

Blackjack follows an eccentric Southern family as it is squeezed into the close quarters of a Mississippi cruise ship for the New Year's holiday.

Kaitlyn is convinced that she is channeling the poet Baudelaire and certain that her husband is having an affair with a larger-than-life ship entertainer.

Irene the matriarch of the family suspects a rift in her daughter's marriage.

Her sexy maid sets her sights on the grandson a successful Southern rock star.

Everyone dons costumes for New Year's Eve casting off their old identities and trying on new loves.

Also available in A Louisiana Gentleman and other New Orleans Comedies

Press Reviews

"The dialogue has a poetic quality and intensity of meaning that even surpasses its three predecessors. O'Neill finds a bombshell combination of '90s sexual dialogue, psychology, and occult metaphysics to move her plot line along."
— Spotlight

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
IRENE SONIAT DUBONNET (MIMI) 60's; a ravishing matriarch. Her family has roots in the nineteenth century, and she still presides over a vast Garden District house in New Orleans.	female	60	60's; a ravishing matriarch. Her family has roots in the nineteenth century, and she still presides over a vast Garden District house in New Orleans.
LUISA GARCIA Early 20s; an Hispanic medical student, too pretty for her office as Irene’s companion; sleek and firm; she is poured into a shirt, jeans, and a nurse’s jacket.	female	20s	Early 20s; an Hispanic medical student, too pretty for her office as Irene’s companion; sleek and firm; she is poured into a shirt, jeans, and a nurse’s jacket.
BUNKY DUBONNET LEGERE 20s; a rock star and Irene’s grandson; he has mood eyes that change colors and wild hair.	male	20s	20s; a rock star and Irene’s grandson; he has mood eyes that change colors and wild hair.
JAMES BEAUREGARD ELLIS(BEAU) 40s; Bunky’s stepfather; athletic and tanned; he dresses in Ivy League, navy and black blazers with shirts and sweaters of gray, blue, and wine.	male	40s	40s; Bunky’s stepfather; athletic and tanned; he dresses in Ivy League, navy and black blazers with shirts and sweaters of gray, blue, and wine.
KAITLIN ELLIS 40s; Bunky’s mother; a delicate beauty with the clearest eyes and a porcelain complexion just beginning to crack from the strain of illness.	female	40s	40s; Bunky’s mother; a delicate beauty with the clearest eyes and a porcelain complexion just beginning to crack from the strain of illness.
RORY DEBANGO 40s-50s; single; there is something striking about her, an exotic strain of wild, unpredictable whimsy.	—	40s	40s-50s; single; there is something striking about her, an exotic strain of wild, unpredictable whimsy.