Full-Length Comedy • 90 minutes • No Intermission
1M, 2W
*World Premiere at Signature Theatre*
Playwright Chelsea Marcantel (Airness, Everything is Wonderful) channels the unexpected in an ethereal journey of familial love, the limits of cynicism, and how to explain the unexplainable.
After a serious illness, a young man wakes up with the power to communicate with the dead (or so he believes). Desperate for guidance and to connect with their late father, he and his skeptic sister set out to test his paranormal talent at the Lily Dale Spiritualist community where their discoveries summon more than the afterlife.
Signature’s latest Heidi Thomas Writers’ Initiative play is an enlightening tale of an unlikely psychic directed by Holly Twyford.
“Her writing is both entertaining and heartbreaking.”
– BALTIMORE THEATRE TALK
photos by Christopher Mueller
ABOUT THE PLAY
THE UPSTAIRS DEPARTMENT is not yet published.
For licensing inquiries, please contact Di Glazer at diana.glazer@caa.com.
Reviews
“Marcantel’s script is poignant and often funny, building a strong relationship both between characters and with the audience. It’s easy to connect with the characters and their struggles – pandemic-related and otherwise – as they navigate their identities and how to cope with the world they face.” — Broadway World
“What I knew about Chelsea Marcantel going in was that she’s a genius at creating worlds on stage that seem fantastical and fictitious but that are situated in a world that actually exists. … Marcantel took me to that world, peopled it with characters I could care about, and got my disbelief not just suspended but dissolved.” — DC Metro
“The play comes through like a voice from the beyond… containing the message we most need to hear right now.” — Washington City Paper
“While ostensibly about grief and how we see the world, The Upstairs Department is really more about the central sibling relationship, about how two people can drift apart and find their way back to each other along their journeys to better understand themselves.” — Broadway World
“While the questions are eternal, Marcantel approaches them from an up-to-the-minute perspective, embodied by three talented actors and directed with subtlety and great empathy by Holly Twyford.” — Talkin’ Broadway
“At some point, my relation to the play shifted from skepticism to connection. Instead of mulling whether I could bring myself to believe in unseen spirits, I found myself paying close attention to Luke and Colleen’s evolving brother-sister relationship — which as written and as played I found beautiful and heartfelt beyond words.” — DC Metro
“The plot itself is grounded and evocative… With just three actors and ninety minutes, “The Upstairs Department” conjures a satisfying family drama.” — MD Theatre Guide
“This production can connect with even the strictest of skeptics, and… it may win even them over by the end.” — Broadway World
From Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner…
“Chelsea Marcantel is a rich and gifted storyteller, and I am thrilled to bring the world premiere of Chelsea’s latest play to Signature. This is a play about transition and change, and the places we look for comfort when the world spins out of control. Her play takes all the divisiveness and tragedy of the last two years and with humor and incredible empathy she tells a remarkable and unexpected story that I believe will allow audiences to laugh, process and heal together.”
From Director Holly Twyford
“Chelsea Marcantel has crafted a story that is both beautiful and funny and weaves together the upheaval of loss with the inevitable transformation that follows and, ultimately, hope. It is a story that is utterly timely and utterly human.”