Synopsis
Playwright, nerd, and aging hip-hop enthusiast Barrett Ryder has 99 problems, and a script is one.
At home, his wife and former collaborator Cally is dying. He has health issues of his own. Meanwhile, after 20 years, their dream, a hip-hopera based on Homer’s Odyssey (“The O.G. and the Aegean,”) is finally in production…but Ryder cannot stop rewriting.
When the role of Penelope is reassigned, backstage rivalry reigns. “On stage,” we meet the narcissistic Odysseus, whose power depends on his ability to control his narrative... a requirement made easier by the death of every single member of his crew.
Tensions reflect across the layers of the play, finally culminating in a heart attack that lands Ryder in the hospital.
He awakens to witness in real time the answer to the question of how “O.G.” must end. Only afterwards we realize how the layers are woven together.
She has more plots than Forest Lawn
—Tru, describing Olivia
After Every Dream follows three intertwined plots:
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The central (and always evolving) show-under-construction, "The O.G. and The Aegean,"
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The backstage rivalry between cast members Tru and Olivia, which grows to involve much of the cast and creative team, and
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The personal life of the playwright
They're intended to engage and delight at any level of familiarity with the Odyssey, and crafted to reward the deeply immersed audience member up to and over the border of obsession.
And yes, there is satire. "The Lyin' King" just sounded too on-the-nose.
Read the long synopsis for a brief description of how the layers resolve, and click or tap "Why This Show Now" for thoughts on what makes this play right "for our time."
