THE JONBENÉT GAME
by Tori Keenan-Zelt
What do you remember about JonBenét Ramsey?
When they were 12, best friends Molly and Rae played a secret game at sleepovers: reenacting JonBenét Ramsey’s murder. Twenty years later, Rae works as a guidance counselor at their old middle school, determined to leave the past behind. But after Molly’s death, her 12-year-old daughter finds their old playbook; the game resurfaces, and Rae finds herself playing again. The JonBenét Game examines the uneasy space that true crime opens up for women to explore the violence and grief they’re not supposed to talk about.
- Cast Size: 3W
- Running Time: 90+ minutes
- Royalty Rate: $75 per performance
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About the Playwright
TORI KEENAN-ZELT is an award-winning playwright who also writes for the screen. Originally from Pittsburgh, she has written her way out of an evangelical childhood and two young marriages. Her work uses the interplay of humor and horror to illuminate the dark corners of women’s lives that often go unseen.
Her plays include The JonBenét Game (NNPN Rolling World Premiere: American Lives Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, Theatre Nova, SF Playhouse commission); How the Baby Died (Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Ingram New Works); Seph (Araca Project, Princess Grace Finalist, Fresh Ground Pepper); Air Space (Kilroys List, Ingram New Works); Truth/Dare (Project Y, NYITA Nominee, Best Ensemble Pgh Fringe, Best Live Performance—Nashville Scene); The Egypt Play (Playwrights Center); Episode #121: Catfight! (Yale Cabaret), and others. Affiliations: New Georges, National New Play Network, The Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights’ Center.
Tori holds a BA from Harvard and an MFA from NYU Tisch. She has written for Colonial Williamsburg’s PBS series, for which she received an Emmy nomination, and her award-winning one-act play How to Be a Widow aired on Playing on Air (NPR). She lives in Brooklyn and Nashville with her partner and grows work around the country. www.torikz.com
Review The JonBenét Game.