History
Impossible?—a serious satire about autocracy on the rise in America— was first conceived in 2015 and workshopped at the Women’s International Playwrights Festival, Provincetown, in 2016 with the title IMPOSSIBLE! Producer: Margaret Van Sant, Executive Director, Provincetown Dramatic Arts.
Roscoe proceeded to revise and enhance. Under the title HERE!, the work was read on the main stage at Cotuit Center for the Arts in January 2019 and again at Cape Cod Museum of Art in May 2019. Director: Carol McManus. A reading was also filmed at CapeMedia, Dennisport, MA. on February 19, 2019 before an audience of invited guests.
What It's About
The play is presented in two fast-paced acts. Set in the present day, Impossible? unfolds with an inevitability that is chilling as historical patterns in the rise of dictatorship emerge in modern form on stage. The playwright's keen eye for the ridiculous keeps the audience chuckling along, entertained by witty dialogue even as the unthinkable becomes reality. Racism and sexism also feature in this thought-provoking play.
Sarah St. Mimsey is an artist who struggles to make ends meet. Her lover, Dave O’Sulley, owns a local radio station. Their best friend, Landon Eldredge, is a farmer.
As the play progresses, their relationships undergo profound alteration as the newly elected President, Eddie Fabuloso— urged on by his adviser, Nikki Mugg—loses his mental stability little by little as he rearranges a nation in his grip.
O’Sulley's reporting on an incident at a Fabuloso rally connects the local action with that of the national scene.
Character Breakdown
President Eddie FABULOSO: U.S. President. Nasty, angry, smug, self-righteous with a heavy dose of good ol' boy charm; loves a crowd; is convinced he is serving the higher good. Not as stupid as he pretends to be; shrewd.
Dave O’SULLEY: Owns and reports on a small local radio station; cheerful, protective personality. Believes that reason can conquer all.
SARAH St. Mimsey: painter with a B & B; part New England Indian.
Lemuel CRANBY: Businessman; runs the local bank; has a veneer of upper crust over a roughneck crudity.
RED: Contractor for Sarah who becomes a "Fabuloso’s American Protectors" leader.
Nikki MUGG: Fabuloso’s right hand.
Eldredge LANDON: Farmer.