Miz Lena's Backyard
by Jan Villarrubia

A maternal, funny busybody, Lena sits in her yard all day long trying to lure neighbors in, tempting them with lemonade and gossip.

Completely alone, but refusing to be lonely, Lena has fabricated an incredible fantasy world to escape her tragedies—her husband, John's recent death, the failure of her only son, Monk, to return from Vietnam and her own impending death.

An 18-year-old Amerasian of Vietnamese descent moves in next door, and Lena quickly incorporates her into the fantasies, which get more elaborate and begin to take over her life.

Finally, as years of vivid memories unfold, Lena accepts that Monk will never return and makes her decision to do nothing about the lump, which she knows to be cancer.

Instead, she looks forward to joining her son and her husband in the afterlife.

Described as "romantic, tragic and comic," this play deals with death and loss in a surprisingly humorous way.

One ext. set.