Parental Anxiety Meets Technology in New Comedy

Witness the current moment in time: A modern conversation about present concerns in the contemporary parlance — as seen through one of today’s most common forms of communication: the group text. On stage this March, Parents in Chains, written by Jay Martel and directed by Andy Fickman, is a unique time capsule story of parents keeping tabs on what they love (and must control) best: their teenage kids. This mid-season addition to Ensemble Theatre Company’s lineup, produced by J. Todd Harris, is about three teenage girls on a road trip to San Francisco — and their parents back home in L.A. in constant communication with each other on a group text chain.

Parents in Chains features a handful of well-loved guest performers to play the concerned, annoyed, gossipy, over-the-top parents with an eye pressed to the peephole into their almost-adult children’s lives. The concept of the play is simple (conversational dialogue via text chain), as is the staging of the production, bringing focus to the comedic/dramatic performances of actors like John Ross Bowie, Melora Hardin, Sharon Lawrence, Joshua Malina, Jane Lynch, Thomas Sadoski, Gina Torres, and Matt Walsh. 

“All the parents are different,” says Lynch, who plays Muriel in certain performances. “I’m not a parent, but I know this — especially Muriel’s — obsession. The need to always be in the right. And of course, it’s not her daughter’s fault … we all know that parent.”