The Headlands
by Christopher Chen

Name: The Headlands
Brand: Christopher Chen
SKU: 9780573709319
Rating: 3.7 (10 reviews)

The Headlands Book Cover — The Headlands Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins Present Day Role(s) for Asian Actor(s) Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes

Synopsis

In The Headlands , Henry is an amateur sleuth and true crime aficionado who sets out to solve the ultimate case: the unsolved murder of his father.

Using his memories and the family stories he was told as a child growing up in San Francisco, Henry begins an investigation through a labyrinth of secrets and deceptions that leads him to question those closest to him.

The Headlands is a contemporary noir that explores the stories we tell ourselves and the fallibility of the mind.

Author's Note: Inspired by Vertigo and other San Francisco noir, as well as the exquisitely precise tone management of Kazuo Ishiguro's novels, the play's primary requirement for its creative team will be to make each scene, each moment, a highly distinct pocket of atmosphere, mood and emotion.

There should a cinematic quality to each scene, and to the flow of the production as a whole.

Press Reviews

"Beguiling... a wonderful reorientation of perception."
— The New York Times

"Draws the viewer in through the recognizable frame, then quietly spins out strands of subtext that force you to consider questions of family, community, identity, trust and truth… Highly Recommended."
— Exeunt magazine

"A haunting new play... Playwright Chen is a sly storyteller, and the mystery unravels with many twists, turns, and blind alleys. This gripping family tale... reaches for the universality of family stories from mythology."
— Theater Pizzazz

"A great cinematic vision… gets away with something that even Alfred Hitchcock couldn’t."
— The Wrap

"One part memory play, one part Dateline episode, and all parts twisted in the most thrilling of ways."
— The Fordham Observer

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
George Chinese, male, 20s and 40s	male	20s	Chinese, male, 20s and 40s
Leena Chinese American, female, 2's, 40s	female	40s	Chinese American, female, 2's, 40s
Jess Female, 30s	female	30s	Female, 30s
Pat/Leena (Older) Chinese female, 70s	female	70s	Chinese female, 70s
Walter/Detective Imagined as male, at least 50s	male	50s	Imagined as male, at least 50s
Tom Chinese American, male, 20s and 40sNOTE: The roles of PAT/LEENA (OLDER) and WALTER/DETECTIVE are lumped together for easy casting, but they can be split apart. POC casting encouraged for Jess.	male	20s	Chinese American, male, 20s and 40sNOTE: The roles of PAT/LEENA (OLDER) and WALTER/DETECTIVE are lumped together for easy casting, but they can be split apart. POC casting encouraged for Jess.
Henry Chinese American, male, 30s	male	30s	Chinese American, male, 30s