Leisure, Labor, Lust
Premiered in New York City at The Tank, 312 West 36th Street NY NY in March, 2018. It was directed by Sara Farrington.
Featuring:
Gabriella Rhodeen, Stephanie Regina, Kyle Stockburger, Christopher Tocco
Crew:
Lighting Design: Brian Aldous
Sound Design: Sam Schloegel
Stage Manager: Alex West
Prior to its NYC premiere in 2018, this play was workshopped, in parts, between 2014-2017 at the following:
Leisure, presented in workshop at JACK, Brooklyn, NY, Aug. 2014.
Leisure, toured in workshop to The Mount, Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, MA, presented in her ballroom, Jan. 2015.
Leisure and Lust, presented in workshop at the Sublet Series at HERE Arts Center, NY NY, May 2015.
Labor and Lust toured to The Mount again, presented site-specifically in Wharton’s boudoir and bedroom, Jan. 2017.
Leisure, Labor, Lust was performed in workshop as the full trilogy at Art House, Jersey City, NJ Nov. 2017.
Published Edition Coming Soon from Next Stage Press.
LEISURE, LABOR, LUST
By Sara Farrington
Published by Next Stage Press
Publication Date: October 1st, 2025
2W 2M
A 3-part psychodrama set in two versions of New York City in 1907: Edith Wharton’s uptown and Jacob Riis’ downtown. Four characters toss their tangled versions of a single narrative back and forth, reenacting unreliable memories, jumping in and out of time, space, character and gender. The fifth character is Delancey Morris, who's never seen, but holds the others' lives in the balance. In Leisure, Grace’s Hunter’s closeted husband Harry has just committed suicide, so she and her maid Lucy reenact the events leading up to his death, including Grace’s affair with Delancey. Labor rewinds to the days right before Harry’s suicide, with events told from the point of view of servants, Lucy and Gilbert. Lust fast forwards to moments before Harry’s suicide, where a still alive Harry expands the narrative even further, reliving his tortured life as a closeted man and years-long love affair with, again, Delancey Morris.
